The Boy Next Door
by iAnneart01
Summary: To be envious of other people is a petty horrible feeling. He should know. His whole being revolves about his jealousy for humans. Their relationships. He hates humans with every single inch of his cruel soul, for having what he can never have. Love.
1. Her Love

My first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic :) Constructive Criticism please!

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"Remember to oil it everyday." He tried not to look at her in the eyes. It was something that he could do with ease.

"...Yeah."

"Be sure to check that the screws are tight too!"

"Mmm." He muttered in emotionless agreement. She turned to look at his slumped figure, staring straight ahead. "Wipe off the water when you get out of the tub." His brows furrowed slightly. "Right." Slightly annoyed, she leaned into him.

"Hey, are you listening?" A three second silence covered the two, before Edward finally responded with a bored "...ya."

"Geez!" Winry whipped her head back, clearly through with trying to have a conversation. The sound of the train coming from a distance took their attention, and Winry stood up, squinting her eyes to see the monstrous machine. "Ah, here it comes." She broke their silence, after finally catching a glimpse of the locomotive quickly powering into proximity. Ed was still sitting on the bench, only this time his eyes were resting on the blonde girl to his side, a clear expression of conflicting emotions washing all over his face. The train was finally at the station, coming to a complete halt and letting out high-pressured steam as it waited for its newest passenger to come on board. It was time to say goodbye.

"Good grief, you're probably going to break it and have to come back again like that." Her eyes were trained onto his last automail limb, his left leg. The boy turned around, waving his hand dismissively, already heading for the entrance of the train.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Winry's face split into a small but warm smile. "Whenever you need maintenance, be sure to call for an appointment." He kept walking nonchalantly, grumbling another "_Yeah."_before stepping in the threshold with his left leg. To the blonde mechanic's surprise, he halted at the entrance for a while before his head hung low as if pondering something.

"Appointment...?" He whispered more to himself than to Winry, various thoughts whirling around his head and then turned to face her directly. His brows were furrowed in determination. There was a short pause between the two before she finally asked pleasantly. "What?_"_ He finally opened his mouth. "W-Winry." The single word was filled with unspoken meaning, which concerned the blonde. She was waiting for him to continue but it seemed that he had clamped his mouth shut again.

"What?" She couldn't help but pester. "Just come out and say it." Edward's expression turned into one of panic. He tried to make phrases, but his throat suddenly felt like a desert; dry as hell and he couldn't even get one word swallowed over and over again, in hopes of reclaiming his voice back. Unfortunately, the longer he took to speak, the blush that was splashed all over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose became redder and redder. His eyes furrowed once again, cursing himself in his mind.

_Idiot! Just say it! It's not that hard, just open your goddamn mouth and-_

"**EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE!**" He shouted in a very loud and probably unnecessary tone , his index finger pointing at Winry assertively, but he clearly looked terrified.

"Wah?"

"I'll give you half of my life, if _you_ give me half of yours!" He yelled, his eyes widening with each word he blurted out , and then held his breath subconsciously.A fairly uncomfortable silence settled between them, as they both stared into each other. Winry's puzzled expression became one of complete and utter shock, and she opened her mouth slowly, a gasp escaping her lips as she realized what he was trying to say. She then reacted in a way that he wasn't expecting her to.

"Aww, Geez, why do alchemists have to be like this?" She groaned in exasperation, hanging her head and putting a hand to her forehead as if she was contemplating the sheer idiocy of his words. Ed was frozen in spot, taken back by her words.

"The principle of Equivalent Exchange is all nonsense, isn't it?"

"What did you say!" He shouted once again, his pointed finger turned accusing."It's NONSENSE!" Winry emphasized her point matter-of-factly. "Never mind half, I'll give you all of it!" The golden-eyed boy was speechless. There was a pregnant pause. Her eyes widened in surprise, as she took in the implications of her words for the first time and let out a small cheeks started to burn up in embarrassment, her eyes losing all of the fearlessness they had before.

"Ah! Er, ok! Maybe not _all_of it!" She shot her hands forward, in a subconscious attempt to make her declaration seem much less intimate, which in consideration was nearly impossible. Her fingers nervously started counting, first with nine up."90 percent- No! 80 percent." She lowered one finger anxiously, her face could compete with a ripe tomato. He lowered his arm, and looked at her furiously trying to make sense of her jumbled mind with awe in his eyes. Her hands were trembling slightly."70... no, that won't work. Okay 85." Ed had a ridiculous grin plastered on his mouth widened to a nervous smile.

" Yeah! I'd be willing to give you that much!" The stifled snickers from Ed were heard and she turned around, anger in her face. " W-WHAT?" Her furious tone caused him to now laugh loudly and obnoxiously for quite a while.

"Ed!"Her eyes were narrowed with anger and embarrassment. His hands gripped his stomach. Laughing proving too much for his abdominal. "Sorry!" He piped, before laughing once more, doubling over "ED!"

"Ah, you really are amazing! You turn equivalent exchange on its ear so easily!" Winry's eyes narrowed, feeling humiliated. "What do you mean? Are you making fun of me?"

" No, I'm not." He stood from his doubled over position, and took a step closer to her beautiful face. A heart-warming smile was present in the former pipsqueak's face as he now towered over Winry, but only by a few arm raised up to caress the soft hair on the back of her head, and Winry froze in terror. ' Oh God, what is he doing? Is he- is he?' His other arm circled around her back, and she was sure of what was to happen next. Oof! She felt her body squished against his own as Edward enveloped her in a tight hug. Her eyes widened. Oh. It was just a hug... The initial twinge of disappointment quickly faded away as she melted into his embrace. "You cheered me up. Thanks. I'm off." He said swiftly, but with kindness in his voice. She now realized that his hugs made her day as well. She returned his embrace, arms linking together in the back as she took in his touch, his scent. All if it.

She was going to miss him.

"Mm-hm! Come back soon!" She replied cheerfully.

He was now in his train, already on his way to West. For studying. Research. The combination of Alkahestry and Alchemy was very advanced in that area. One journey ended, and now another one begins. _'Come back soon!'_He replayed her words in his head. He knew that the type of research that he was studying would take at least a couple years. Maybe four or five. It could even be six years. 'I swear, Win. I'll come back home... Sooner than you know. '

His eyes closed, as he nodded off to sleep. It was going to be a long trip.

..

"Granny! I'm back!"

Winry slammed the front door with her foot a little harshly.

She couldn't use her hands since both of them were occupied with large boxes of various automail equipment that she had bought from Rush Valley.

She still needed to bring her suit cases left back at the porch since she barely came back from the holy grail of automail. It had been exactly one year since the day Ed left to West and studied alchemy more extensively. Through out all the time, Winry had surprisingly been very busy. She had been in her house, at her automail workshop for about two months when Garfield called her to tell her that in Rush Valley everyone missed her greatly, and was begged to come back until she finally gave in. For the last remaining eight months, she had been in Rush Valley as THE mechanic, earning herself the title of one of the most amazing automail engineers ever existed... and one of the youngest too! Sooner or later, she got homesick and decided to bid the town goodbye. She would be returning to her dear home that was Resembool. And she was finally here! After taking a few step, the heavy boxes were proving too much for her, as she stumbled a bit and everything came crashing down in an avalanche.

_Whack!_

A large metal wrench that came out of one particular box had collided with her head on the impact, much to a similar fashion in how she would throw her trusty wrench at Edward's noggin. "OW!" She rubbed her throbbing head in agony. "...So that is how it feels like..." She grumbled, lying there in pain, imagining Ed laughing his ass off.

She removed her hand from the sore spot on her head, and was shocked to see crimson liquid staining the skin, and lining her entire palm . Winry double checked with her other hand resting it slightly on the painful spot and quickly withdrawing it to see it. Just as she suspected, there was blood all over it. " I didn't think I hit myself that bad." She muttered as she stood up shakily, making a lot more tools and raw metal material hit the floor in a loud clatter. The mess could be cleaned up later."Granny?" She called out again, but was met with silence.

She entered the kitchen and started rummaging the drawers until she found what she was looking for. The white washcloth was put under the faucet and dampened before being placed at the blonde girl's bleeding wound with her arm. Winry then exited the kitchen and started to go upstairs, still in search for her grandmother. The Rockbell household felt eerily quiet and door to her grandma's room opened to see that it was empty. She checked the automail shop. Nothing. Her room. Again, nothing. The only room left in the house was the guest room. Why the hell would Granny be there? Nevertheless, Winry walked up to the mahogany door and opened it. Empty!

_What..the.._

Winry knocked on the two bathrooms in the house to no avail. There was nobody there. The girl pondered to herself where the heck her granny might have gotten herself into. She walked herself downstairs again, and plopped down her comfortable brown couch in the living , her head was really starting to hurt. "Maybe I should lie down for a while..." She said to herself, and looked upstairs, to where her room was. Ugh. Too far away.

'I'll just stay here.' As her head touched the cushion, the gauze substitute fell over with a slight thud to the wooden floor beneath her. "Huh." The cloth was more red than white with her blood. She didn't feel dizzy or anything so she stood up quickly and went to the bathroom to wash her face, since it was getting covered with blood. She knew what to do, just apply enough pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Winry looked at the cut with the bathroom mirror, and saw that though it bleed a lot, it wasn't a deep cut. It wouldn't need stitches.

A noise was heard downstairs. She was immediately silent, alert. It sounded like the front door opening. Someone was in the house. Winry sighed in relief. That was probably her granny. With a fresh washcloth pressed up firmly on the top of her head, stopping the incessant bleeding, she ran downstairs, her jaw almost hit the floor when she saw the person that standing there inside her home. In her stupor, she dropped the cloth to the floor. A blanket of silence covered the two.

"...Ed?"

He gave her a smile that made shivers run down her spine. " I'm back, Winry. And I'm staying for good."

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_*It may not mean nothing to y'all,  
__but understand nothing was done for me.  
So I don't plan on stopping at all, I want this shit forever and mine ever.*_


	2. Inferno

_._

_._

_Falling._

_He felt like he was falling into a pitch black abyss with n__o hope of getting out._

_The flames that were nowhere to be found were licking at the soles of his feet, and were starting to burn his back and legs. __He tried to scream out in pain, but it felt like his mouth refused to obey. He would suffer in silence, like he deserved. He tried to grab on to something to stop his descent , or even slow it down, but there was nothing to hold on to._

_It was painfully obvious by the agonizing screams and shrieks that he couldn't block from his hearing that he was entering the realm that no soul ever wanted to go. That realm that had no chance of escaping. One that guaranteed an eternity of misery._

_But how?_

_This couldn't be happening to him._

_It just couldn't!_

_Yet, here he was, plummeting to his demise and there was nothing he could do about it. Then again... he couldn't say that this fate was unbecoming to him. Every soul that he had trapped inside his body, every death that made his own hands stained in blood was the cause. __There could not possibly exist a more fitting place for him than this one._

_The horrid shrieking grew louder, making the black blood inside him pulse in his eardrum rhythmically. Where was all of this wretched shrieking coming from? He asked himself, wincing. Then he realized the __loudest screams were coming from his now gaping mouth._

_The pain... the excruciating pain..._

_When would it stop?_

_He then heard his own words, the words that he had said in cruel glee. __-"The look on his face! The despair of being shot dead by someone with his beloved wife's face!" He had a malicious grin at the time, almost hugging himself from the pure exhilaration. "Ah! It was terrific!" His eyes had burned in wicked delight.-_

_Of course. The pain would never stop. __He loved to see others in that same despair, so he deserved to be in it forever. Even he knew that it was fair. Equivalent exchange, one might call it, even if he scoffed at the alchemic term so many times before. He never did believe in that type of shit. He just took what he wanted and never paid heed to any 'price' he had to pay. __Now, he was paying greatly. __More greatly that he had ever imagined in his entire life._

_His kind would have their eyes sewn shut, for the great pleasure of witnessing others in sorrow. It would be similar to the way his own eyes boiled from within at the cause of a certain flame alchemist. He could already feel it. The burning steel wire that pierced both his eyelids at the same time, looping over and over around his eyes, making them close eternally. __His eyes were literally stitched together. __Forever._

_The flames engulfed his body, heated the wires and charred his skin._

_Burning._

_Burning._

_Black tendrils then wrapped themselves along his already carcass-like wrists and ankles. One significantly thick tendril, much like a black python, wrapped around his abdomen tightly. So tight that he felt like he was going to be crushed. It was destroying his pure essence, his flesh. __He attempted to scream once again but when he opened his lips, his entire mouth was filled with thick blood that overflowed his chin and dripped down his tight black top. A sickening gurgling was the only sound that escaped his throat._

_It was the end for him._

_'I don't deserve to be here, only scums that are humans belong here!'_

_His own thoughts clashed in conflict with others that said that his pride would get him nowhere. If that was true, then why was he there? Why was he descending to the fire, when he did not have a soul? __He didn't have a soul... did he? __He never believed in any type of God in all of the one hundred and seventy five years he had lived, and now he found himself in a position that made him sick to his stomach._

_Praying. __( what am I doing? )_

_Asking for forgiveness. ( how low I have fallen... )_

_Fear of this fate did that to people, even human-hating homunculi, whether you believe in a supernatural entity or not. __It didn't make that difference anyways, whether or not he said sorry. Whether or not he meant it. He couldn't be spared, or granted another chance. __He was already in Hell._

_He heard the deep cackling of a monstrous voice. __"Welcome to your new home... Envy."_

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	3. Forgotten promises

_*Sometimes I need that romance, sometimes I need that pole dance, sometimes I need that stripper who tells me that she don't dance.*_

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"Wha-" Winry managed to splutter out at Ed's appearance amid all of the metal and boxes. His amber eyes crinkled as a large grin split his face. A grin so big, bigger than Winry has ever seen. He extended his arms expectantly as if to say _'Well? Are you happy to see me?_'

She stared at him in response, her words dying on her didn't know what to think. Edward Elric wasn't going to be back for a long time. He had told her that if he was lucky, he would be back to Resembool in three years. Now, barely a year has passed and yet here he was. How could this be possible? She would have expected at least a call from him! Actually, scratch that. He never _ever _called her, he just showed up at her house randomly along with Alphonse with broken automail and expected her to fix it without questions asked.

His brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at her immobile figure. What was going on in that head of hers?

Suddenly, he felt Winry crash onto his own body in a bone-crushing hug. The abrupt brazenness of the beautiful blonde girl made Ed wide-eyed as he stood there completely still. His arms were bound by the tight enveloping embrace that the mechanic had ensued, and he found it quite hard to breath for a while.

"Uh.. Winry?" He tried to make his voice sound as gentle as possible, which was for him a really difficult task for him to do. The only touches that he had received in a long long time were the brutal punches and kicks that he had received from his enemies. "I missed you..." She nuzzled her nose in the crook of his neck, and breathed in his scent. If it was possible, he stiffened up even _more_.

The musky natural scent that he carried was nowhere to be detected. Instead, all she smelled were the floral notes of poppy and sweet pea. A smell that for some strange reason was immediately associated with darkness. It was a sweet aroma that took her back when she was in the graveyard to visit her parents, when there were so many flowers in the different tombstones.

It was like his scent was replaced with one of...death?

She breathed out, her head finally rising to look him in his mesmerizing eyes."I'm so glad your back." She beamed at him, a pink flush rising to her cheeks. "You should have told me that you were coming, I would have baked you an apple pie!"

She dropped her arms, and took a couple of steps away from him. She was absolutely glowing with happiness. Because of him. The girl was practically jumping with joy at his presence. Next thing he knows, he is pushed by her gentle hands. "C'mon." Not knowing what else to do, he let himself be pushed up the stairs by the fair-colored teenager until they finally arrived at the mahogany door that he presumed to be his room.

"I'll let you get settled." She eyed him up and down, seeing a brown luggage bag behind him. "But before," She said in a sing-song manner, wagging her finger. "Help me get all of my tools to the shop." A loud groan emitted from the boy's mouth.

"Ugh, do I have to?" He complained but obliged. After all of her tools were in the workshop where they were supposed to be, she finally let him go.

"I'll bake you that pie you love so much and then do a quick checkup of your automail after, okay?" Her cheerful tone was starting to give him a headache.

"Uh...thanks." He kept to his thoughts to himself on how he'd rather have another dessert in mind.

After she stepped down, he breathed out a sigh of relief that he didn't know he was holding and entered the warm furnished room. He looked around the chamber and decided he liked it. He then immediately plopped down on the full sized bed and threw his hands in the back of his head, looking completely relaxed until something bright blinded him momentarily._  
_

One of the setting sun's rays had penetrated the window glass and reflected itself on the large vanity mirror that was opposite the bed. A curious eyebrow rose and he threw his legs on the side of the bed to walk slowly and leisurely at the mirror. He was now face-to-face with his own reflection, and proceeded to take off his bright scarlet coat . It left him with the black high collared and long shirt shirt that he was used to wearing . His hands ran through his dirty blonde hair, snapping the hairband that held his messy braid intact. A curtain of champagne locks fell gracefully at his shoulders.

His right hand, now flesh-and-blood, gripped the the collar gently, starting to unbutton it.

A large smirk formed on his lips.

"Heh. definitely not a pipsqueak anymore."

..

"I need to call Al, "

She said to herself excitedly, running over to the telephone in a rush. She was sure he would be as happy as she was at the moment. The minute she picked up the device to dial the number of her other dear childhood friend, she froze. Another thought entered her mind.

_Equivalent exchange._

Her cheeks grew red in seconds. Had he forgotten about his promise that he made when he departed? Was it really a through proposal or one of the many idiotic phrases that Ed is known to spew out? There wasn't a ring present in his declaration but that didn't necessarily mean that it wasn't serious... did it? Butterflies in her stomach made her grip her midsection as she thought of the possibility.

She needed to know.

But how was she going to tell him? Should she go up to his room and ask him right there? Or maybe she should wait for him to get settled a bit before she dropped the unexpected bomb. Knowing Ed, he was going to freak out at her question and probably avoid her for the rest of the day in embarrassment. Winry needed to approach the situation carefully, or risk making Ed run.

She sat down on the couch, pondering on the situation when she realized something.

Her granny was still gone!

Confusion marred her features, and noted that it was unusual that granny was still out of the house after sunset. "Hmm." Her legs marched themselves to the front door, opening it quietly and stepping out on the wooden porch. It was a tranquil day, with a slight cold breeze rippling through the colorful sky. Her gorgeous automail-clad dog was resting on the wooden boards with her paws extended out so they could feel the coolness of the air the usually hot weather. The girl couldn't help but smile at her companion. "Hey Den," She cooed at the black dog, scratching its fur affectionately.

"You haven't seen Granny anywhere have you?" As a response, she licked Winry's chin, which made her giggle for a second, but her smile immediately fell from her face when she thought of her only blood-kin out there.

"Don't worry yourself Winry. It's not the first time Granny's been gone for long periods of time to go off relive her 'younger' days. You know Granny's far more capable than you to take care of herself." She reassured herself, and entering the house. For now, it was only Ed and her.

..

He hadn't left his room. At all.

Without him running around the house, or spewing out swear words every chance he got, the house seemed oddly quiet. Winry knocked on his door. "Edo. The pie is ready." Not a peep from him. A growl of annoyance erupted from her throat as she rapped her knuckles more harshly on the wood.

"ED!" She waited a bit before she heard the _click _of the door unlocking. It opened to reveal Edward in his trademark boxers and white wife-beater, yawning and stretching out his arms in an obnoxious form. He was obviously napping.

"You said something about pie?" He wondered groggily. She rolled her eyes in an effort to seem upset at his abrasive nature, but her smile gave her away. "Come on sleepy-head." A few seconds later and lot of stumbling from a still sleepy Ed (who was cursing worse than a sailor), both friends were sitting down at the kitchen table with a steaming delectable apple pie in the middle of it. Winry took out a sharp knife and cut the pie into eight perfect slices.

"Here you go," She handed him a slice on a napkin, and sat down on the other side of the table with her own slice. Both started to eat silently. Winry didn't dare to look into his eyes, which made him feel a bit puzzled and a bit amused.

_Come on, ask him-_

She bit her lip nervously as she felt Ed's eyes on her. Never had she felt a more piercing gaze from him.

"What's wrong Winry?"

"Uh-uh, nothing. You know I really should take a look at your leg before it's too late." She stammered, staring at her unfinished pie. She heard a small grunt come out from the former alchemist. Against her wishes, she couldn't help but steal a glance at him. Ed was currently on his third slice of pie, and quickly eating it too. He brushed his bangs away from his face and looked at the girl in front of him for a split second before paying full attention to the dessert.

"It's fine." He said curtly between bites. " There's nothing wrong with it."

"Ed, you know you need the maintenance-" He stood up, as if seemingly exasperated by her nagging. " Fine, let's go." A twang of hurt radiated in her eyes, and she took a deep breath. _It's Edward, Winry. This is how he is. Don't let it get to you. _Both headed leisurely to the automail shop, in which Ed's eyes analyzed almost with a wonder at each and every metal trinket she had in there. He picked on unfinished automail arm, inspecting every nook and cranny of it. He even looked at the inside of the complicated machinery for quite the while.

"Well, look who's the machine junkie now!" A mocking female voice rang behind him. He stayed quiet with a puzzled expression for a while before he dropped the arm, scoffing."Yeah right." She laughed breezily and waited for him. Ed looked around and saw her expectant eyes directed at him.

He tried to figure out why she was staring at him like that, like waiting for him to do somethi-

"Well?" She asked, a bit impatient at Ed's slow wit. "Take them off!"

"Eh?!"

She rolled her eyes. "Do I have to take them off myself?" He then noticed her motioning to his pants.

Then it clicked.

"Oh. right"

His pants came off swiftly and he lied down on the cot while Winry started her check up. Surprisingly, she noticed, that the automail was in tip-top shape. How did he take care of it so well when he always came with the automail either severely broken or completely destroyed? "Wow, it's practically in mint condition." She thought aloud, rummaging around the cables and wires. Ed only stared straight at the ceiling. It was quiet between them for a while before she put down her tools and glanced at his sullen form. Before she could even think, her mouth opened to blurt out:

"Did you mean it, Edward?"

He whipped his head to look at her. "What?" She sighed. Oh well, it was now or never. "When you left..." His face was a blank stare. She groaned internally. Was she really going to have to spell it out for him?

"You know, a year ago. Equivalent exchange_? _" Her sight was now focused on the floor. Silence.

Anger got the better of her.

"YOU ALCHEMY FREAK DON'T TELL ME YOU ALREADY FORGOT WHAT YOU PROMISED ME!" Winry screeched. So much for 'threading on the situation carefully'. His eyes widened in surprise._._

"Uh, can you remind me?"

"UGH!"

"OWWWWW!" He grabbed his head in pain, sporting a clearly new bump as the result of her large metal wrench thrown directly and with impressive aim. Winry was glaring at him in such a chilling way that it sent a little shiver down his spine. Blind rage immediately replaced the shiver.

"What..the hell..was that for." A deep angered voice escaped behind gritted teeth.

A small alarm set off in Winry's mind at the tone of his voice. It was so calm, but at the same time so frightening. The beautiful gold irises turned a menacing bronze color.

"I just wanted you to tell me if you really proposed to me or was it some sort of sick joke..." Her voice cracked. Immediately the darker look in his eyes cleared up and he swore under his breath.

He stood up, looked at her in a unrecognizable expression, and walked out the workshop, leaving Winry in the dust. The wrench that was once gripped tightly in her grasp clattered to the floor as she choked in a sob and buried her face in her palms. She could not stop the hot tears that streamed down her cheeks.

Edward's answer was perfectly and horribly clear.

.

* * *

_* I've been waiting for someone like you, but now you keep slipping away(what have you done now). Why? Why does fate make us suffer? There's a curse between us... between me and you.*_


	4. Chance

_._

_._

_The pain had surprisingly stopped._

_The wires that had closed his eyes felt like they were slowly unraveling, and the incinerating heat of the white-hot flames disappeared.__He no longer felt like he was plunging into some horrible bottomless pit. Now there was a certain strange sensation like if he was...floating?The grisly screaming had decreased significantly, almost like the sound itself was fading into nothing._

_'What... how is this? ' He couldn't even think coherently at the sudden change of atmosphere. His body responded to a sudden coolness that caressed his angry raw welts that had formed by the fire.__He felt his hair flow by carelessly by a pleasant breeze that made him find all of what he was experiencing bizarre..There was a dead silence._

_His breathing couldn't even be heard. Somehow the ghastly calm of the air made his insides churn with a dread even more powerful than the one he experienced when he was literally almost dragged to Hell. __The bottom of his soles finally touched a cold surface that sent his skin into spasms of goosebumps.__He wanted to say something, to scream and lash out at whoever was in charge of doing this to him.__His mouth opened to start his barrage of insults but was cut short by a soft yet deafening voice._

_"**Envy.**"_

_His violet eyes opened and blinked rapidly as if they were never pierced with steel cables. Virtually unharmed.__There was white all around him.__Nothing else but the empty blankness that seemed to stretch for eternity.__"Where the hell am I..." The homunculus murmured crossly. _

_He then took notice a strange gray outline materializing in front of him that he was pretty sure wasn't there a few seconds ago. The gray color quickly turned darker, a shadow that surrounded the shape. It was a black outline of the figure of...His eyes widened in realization as he took in the shape of the person that was in sight. __Extremely long piecey-looking hair seemed to overflow from the thing's head, and a large smile that looked oddly familiar and at the same time new to him. __The figure had a lean athletic built, one that could not be differentiated between male or female, and was standing presumptuously the left arm on its hip in a very effeminate way. Only the shape could be seen. She..he..it then gave a wide insane grin that showed perfect white chiclet teeth._

_Himself._

_"Who are you?" He attempted to demand harshly but it came out more like a frightened question. __If possible, the eerie grin grew wider. "I am God. I am the World. "_

_"...Cut the crap." Though his words sounded strong, it was not how he was feeling at the moment. Quite the opposite actually._

_"I am the Universe...all and the one. I am the Truth." It continued. Its grin was jeering and unpleasant. At the same time, it was impossible not to stare at. The mere grin instilled fright in the mind."But most important of all, I am you."_

_Envy took a step back, shock and most predominantly fear clear in his wild orbs._

_"Why do you look like me?" He pointed at the Truth with a trembling finger. "Why am I here?!" He yelled. The thing merely chuckled, looking very amused at his antics._

_"ANSWER ME!" It __took two steps to the side to let him see the Gate. To him, they looked like two gigantic stone doors that had some weird-looking tree engraved in its he knew by the Truth's smile that it wasn't just some weird tree. The homunculus walked slowly to the Gate and touched the doors with a gentleness that he didn't even know he had. His fingers ran through the grooves and indentations that the stone had. He recognized some of the words that the 'tree' had and put the pieces together._

_Something related to alchemy.__His head swiveled to see the outline of himself, with the same amused grin. A million thoughts bombared his head at the same time, and he wanted to speak so many different phrase but the only one that he could muster out was "You still haven't answered my questions.""Why should I answer?" It stated._

_Envy growled deep inside his throat."Why shouldn't you?" He shot back boldly.__Whether this thing was God or the Universe or whatever.__He wasn't gonna let it get away with making him feel like a fool. Before he could pick a fight with the entity, it interrupted his train of thought with a peculiar statement._

_"Homunculi or artificial humans..." Envy couldn't help but tilt his head to the right in confusion.__"...are without a doubt the greatest achievement that any human could create. Don't you think?"__He couldn't help but narrow his eyes in suspicion."They regenerate instantaneously, considered practically immortal. They are indestructible, have incredible strengths and abilities. Powers that humans could only dream of ever having. Obviously superior to humans, am I right?" It said, grin never falling from its face. __It was ridiculing him._

_"They are so inferior to you homunculi, they are not worthy of even the slightest of sympathy. Let them all crash and burn. But there's the impending question..." It seemed to put a momentarily puzzled expression. If a blank face could even do that. "How did your name come to be?"He closed his fists tightly, almost drawing blood by his sharp nails digging into his skin_

_"Envy the jealous was it?"_

_"Shut up."_

_"It's quite amusing really." It took a grin that strangely resembled his own malicious one. "They are the ones that are the 'scum' of earth as you so affectionately call them. How could you possibly be jealous of them?" "Shut... UP."__The shape-shifter was trembling once again, not of fear, but of slowly growing anger._

_"But, even with all of their flaws and obvious mortality, they defeated you."_

_"Shut the FUCK up!" He exploded, which made the thing chuckle__d directly at him."It's time you finally realized the Truth." ...__What the hell was it even talking about?_

_"The real truth of how humans are far more superior than homunculi."_

_"THAT'S A GODDAMN LIE!" Envy roared, his chest heaving, arms raised up like if he was about to strike and his legs in a stance as if he was ready to combat. __"Humans are pathetic. They are nothing compared to me and the other homunculi. Hear me? NOTHING!"_

_"Then why do you envy them?"__All of his words died on his throat. Gasp after gasp, he still couldn't get one word out. There was just this overwhelming urge to break down. To let down his walls. To cry for hours._

_"We're just-" He couldn't finish his statement._

_"Better? Says the one who was created by humans."_

_"Father created me." He hissed. __It stared him down, if that was even possible since it had no eyes. It stayed silent, but he knew there was the unspoken question in the air ._

_'And who created him?'_

_Envy hung his head low, not wanting to look at anything, not wanting to acknowledge the Truth shook its head at his pitiful state and finally spoke._ _"Homunculi are a disgrace to human life." __Though the comment hurt him, he didn't even have the spirit to spitefully say something back and regain his pride. __"Especially you. You know why, Envy? Because you embody the true and original meaning of a Monster."_

_He grit his teeth, almost to the point where he felt his jaw would dislocate, and shut his eyes tightly in order to rid himself of the wetness that were pooling at his violet orbs."I am not a monster." Envy spoke in almost a whisper._

_"But..__.surrounding all that monstrosity, all that evil, there is a shard of human good, isn't there? You have a sliver of a conscience. After all, you did ask me for forgiveness." It chuckled. Wait, what did it say? The homunculus opened his eyes at the strange uttering the Deity was spewing, looking directly at It._

_"And who am I to not pardon sins which you truly regretted?" Its words echoed in his ears yet he still couldn't believe them. __ It heard him. When he was already descending to Hell, God heard his prayer. __And it had __forgiven __him!_

_"You are to return to Earth, Envy the jealous and show your repent to humanity as you did for me. They need to forgive you as well." It continued. He stayed still in shock. He was to return?_

_"I give you a word of advice, child. What goes around comes around in life and you are no exception to it. After all, this isn't only a second chance, but punishment for your sins. Now is not the time to act on impulse. " _

_"Wait. Are you going to?- Not human..."_

_"You don't deserve to be human...Yet."_

_He blinked in confusion."I don't understand. Why me? Why do I get another opportunity when the other's didn't?"_

_Its grin, for the first time, was gone._ _"Do not think you are the only homunculus who got another chance. As if you are so significant."_ _He jumped to his feet. "You mean... the rest... are alive?" His eyes shined hopefully, a look that Envy was never capable of when he was Father's minion._

_"You'll see. Now bye-bye."_

_"Wha- AAAAH!"_

_He shrieked as some black coils that looked that had tiny hands wrapped around his arms and legs securely before lifting him off the ground. The Gate had opened.__A bright white light flashed in his eyes so much, he felt like he would have a seizure. Once again the air around him felt burning hot.__Whispers could be heard, as more and more black coils dragged him into the two enormous doors, finally achieving. _

_Envy finally saw the Truth grinning at him through the small space that was still visible, until the door stone doors slammed into each other redundantly._

_Darkness consumed him._

_ ._

_._


	5. Let them know

_*Usa un perfume que hipnotiza, y un polvo magico que hechiza... fuma un cigarro que da risa, *_

* * *

.

Edward shut his eyes tightly.

Things have gone from barely well to awful in two seconds flat, all because he couldn't control his short explosive temper. The golden-eyed boy was currently pacing around his room, his mind muddled with doubts and questions. He narrowed his eyes at the thought of Winry. Knowing her overly emotional personality, she was probably _still_ crying her little eyes out back in the automail shop because of him. Damn her! Why did she have to ask that?!

'How the hell was I supposed to reac-" His wondering aloud halted in frustration and growled, seriously contemplating on punching the wall. How was he going to fix this?! He promised himself he wouldn't make any more stupid mistakes! There was already too much errors on his part to account for; he won't add another so soon.

A loud creaking noise distracted him from his thoughts and he swiveled his head to see where the offending sound was coming from. The door had opened, revealing a stony-faced Winry walk inside with a cold air to her. She had changed from her usual mechanic attire to a thin satin-white nighty that fit her more like a slinky tube dress than pajamas. Her platinum locks, instead of being in a high ponytail, were loose, like a sunshine-colored curtain that covered her entire back. Her face, even though it was rather emotionless at the moment, still looked radiant and her blue orbs looked bright.

She was truly a sight to behold. This was not the moment to contemplate her beauty, and compare her looks to another appealing woman however. Her entire disposition and the stiff way she walked was a clear sign to Ed.

**Don't** talk to me.

"Dinner's ready." She quipped curtly, her eyes cold and emotionless. With that statement uttered, her back turned and started to head for the door. Should he say something? Of course he should! What was with him and all of these second thoughts? Oh, that's right, his brash impulsiveness has gotten him in a _lot _of trouble before.

"Winry, I-"

She whipped her head around to give him a dark glare, azure eyes filled with a fiery rage. The words died in his mouth. The blonde put a hand on her hip, and put her nose up in the air defiantly, demurely dissing him.

"Hmph!" She strutted out the room with her hips swaying back and forth, leaving him in the dust in a much similar way that he had done just a few minutes ago. After he picked his jaw from the floor, he gave another low growl. How fucking annoying! Maybe he should just forget about all of this.

_No. Don't be a fucking moron. Be nice. Think rationally..._He snarled to himself. For him to be nice AND think rationally at the same time was going to be the most difficult crisis that the entire universe has ever seen. He could barely handle being rational! But he had SOME self-control. It shouldn't be rocket science. He already had an idea on what he had to do.

Blech. Just the mere _notion _of apologizing to the angry girl made his stomach churn in distaste. Nonetheless, he had to do this. If he didn't, all of his hard work so far had been for nothing. But maybe it would be best to wait for her to cool off. It _did _seem she was pretty pissed, though he wasn't sure on what level since he'd never been one to gauge anger in women. Especially fickle women like _her_.

_I'll apologize in the morning. Besides, I don't wanna get hit by that wrench again._

..

She did not bother to accompany him to dinner.

After leaving the food on the table, and barging into his room to let him know-and quite nicely she might add.. _I had half a mind to kill him right then and there.._., she had retired to her own room and called it a night. She heard the obvious footsteps on the hallway. The golden haired boy had walked down the stairs to the kitchen to eat his supper.

Winry wasn't the least bit tired. So instead of sleeping, she was restlessly tossing and turning on her bed, hoping that sleep would soon overtake her. Her actions were not getting closer to her goal however. It was bout half an hour later and she still was wide awake, staring at the ceiling blankly with her head on the pillow. All was silent for a while until she heard the familiar metal thud of automail clank onto the wooden boards. Edward was probably finished eating and is heading up to his room to do God knows what.

Soon again, absolute silence.

Two hours later...

"UGH! I give up!" She sat up in her bed, clearly frustrated.

She stood up and stepped out of her room. She needed to talk to someone. Anyone. To help her forget about someone that kept overtaking her thoughts. The floor felt ice-cold to her bare feet as she padded to the living room, sitting down on her camel-colored couch. She sat and stared at the wall perpendicular to her for another long time while before she finally got tired of that and started thinking randomly.

How long has she been up in her room doing absolutely nothing? Judging from how quiet everything was and that even the crickets were sleeping, it was pretty late. Maybe one or two in the morning. Her eyes caught hold of the large clock that was hanging by the kitchen wall. 2:45 AM. Oh well, sleep was shot by now. Her eyes darted all over the room, and she sighed, worry clear in her expression. Her grandmother still failed to make an appearance the entire day. Maybe she was gone for the week or something? No.. she would have definitely let her know, at least left her a note or something...

Maybe Granny was already in her room sound asleep. She must have not heard her come in since she was in her room. Winry shook her head. No, it couldn't be. She had been awake all night and she would have heard doors open or footsteps if her grandmother had arrived. Well... it wouldn't hurt to check right? Winry smiled a bit as she went upstairs to check, almost hopeful that her grandmother would be there, tucked in nice and tight. The hope crashed and burned as she opened the door to her Granny's room to find it empty.

She was still alone in the house with Ed.

A dread was growing in the pit of her stomach at the thought of her grandmother out there, with no clue to help her figure out where she was. Unknown to her, there was a small lean shadow gliding over the walls of the living room. Observing her.

_Alphonse_.

Yes, that was perfect.

She would call him. He always knew how to make her happier. The tone dial resonated in her ear for a while and then she heard the voice she was waiting for.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi, Alphonse?" Two amethyst feline eyes shone in the dark.

_"Winry! How are you?"_

The happy voice of Al filled her ears, and made her temporarily forget about the worries that she had been having. She smiled at the warm tone of his voice, and spoke softly to the receiver. "I am little...confused. When are you coming back?"

_"Soon enough, don't you worry about it, Win. What do you mean confused?"_

She sighed, knowing that she would have to tell him about her feelings. "It's just that Ed arrived today-er, yesterday and it-"

_"Brother's is already home?! It's only been a year!" _There was very clear shock in the younger boy's voice. The blonde girl sighed. "Yeah I know, he took me by surprise too." There was unsettling silence between them before Al spoke.

"_You know, you don't really seem that happy that Ed came back..._"

Her response, or lack there of was sufficient enough for an answer. He sighed, already expecting this. "_Alright, what happened between you two? Or should I say, what idiotic thing did Brother do this time?_" He could already hear the sniffles on the other line.

"Oh Al!" She started to wail, but then quieted down since it was dawn and normal people would be asleep by now. "Ed's being a real insensitive jerk. " She whimpered.

Al figured that would be it.

"_That's how Brother naturally is, Win. __What did he do?_"

"..." Winry stayed quiet on the other line for about 10 seconds. To be quite frank, she was reluctant to share the story since just _remembering _it made her feel like she wanted to burst into uncontrollable sobs. Yeah, definitely not looking forward to that.

She heard Al sigh from the other line once again. _Brother must have really messed up even she doesn't even want to tell_ me.

"_Winry__."_

"When are you coming home?" Her bottom lip quivered and her grip on the telephone tightened nervously. She had to thank God that Alphonse was NOTHING like Ed, since he patiently withstood her childish behavior.

"_Mmm. I was planning to stay here for a couple of more months,_" Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "_but I'm willing to wrap the trip up a little early for you. I'll try my best to be there in a week or two. I need to be there so you won't kill Brother in a fit of rage or something-_-"

"OH THANK YOU AL!"

"_Ah-ah_," She could practically see his finger wagging. " _You still have to tell me what happened!_" Darn it, she had hope he forgotten about that. "It's...just so complicated."

"_I have time to listen._ " He responded back earnestly, which made her smile. "Well, ok. I'll tell you but you have to promise not to tell a soul!"

"_Cross my heart, Win_."

"Not even Mei?"

"_...Yes not even Mei._"

"Alright, where should I start-" She wasn't sure how to come around this situation. The 'proposal' that Ed had supposedly made was unknown to anyone. Not even his own brother knew.

"_How about the beginning?_" Al quipped. She grinned. "Yeah I guess the beginning's good. I don't know if you know this, but uh-"

"_You guys like each other right?"_ Her cheeks reddened. "So I guess you did know," She stated bashfully. He merely laughed lightheartedly and urged her to continue."Well after you guys came home from saving the entire the country from becoming a huge transmutation circle about three years ago-"

She then proceeded to reluctantly everything that had happened between them, including the subtle moments and tensions that they had when they were all finally home for two years, and finally when Ed left, proposing to her before she left.

"_WHAT?! Brother PROPOSED?_" The normally calm Alphonse was manic. "Well that's what I had thought that day...but it seems he didn't." She finished almost in a whimper. Her lip was quivering again, and her vision started to blur with tears.

"_What do you mean_?" He asked, concerned. Now the other part of the story. Winry told him all of the events leading to her calling him at this hour, all the while trying to hold her tears back. Being the naturally comforting person he is, he talked reassuringly to her for about twenty more minutes.

"_Be strong, Winry. He'll be back to his own self by tomorrow. I promise._" She sighed. Good thing she had called him. He knew exactly what to say to make her feel better. "Alright. Thanks for the advice Al, I'm going to sleep now. It's almost four in the morning right about now."

"_Alright, have a good night's sleep Win. Love you._"

"Love you too Al!" She hung up. She really did love the younger Elric boy, but just like a brother. If only Ed was half as affectionate as Al was! Winry yawned, finally feeling sleepy. She looked around the room and decided it was time to hit the hay. She stood up from the couch and dragged her feet upstairs to her room. The door closed silently and all was quiet for about ten seconds.

Then...

Two bright fluorescent eyes opened in the pitch-black darkness. A lean small shadow lurked on the few dimly-lit locations that were in the living room. The shadow glided up to the moonlight-lit stairs briefly, too quick enough for the shape to be seen. After it touched the no longer lit stairway railing of the second hallway, it seemed to be camouflaged by the surrounding black out that was the night

A large gleaming grin could be seen right in the middle of the obscurity before disappearing in a red flash.

. .

Her hands and ankles were bound so tightly, it threatened to cut circulations from her limbs.

She could not scream since her throat was gagged with a filthy beige cloth that was used to be a brilliant white. Her clothes were dirty and blood splattered. Around her was the only the stench of dust and destruction.

She was terrified. But not because of her own fate. Sooner or later, she would have to die and she wouldn't fear it when death came knocking on the door for her. No she was not afraid for herself. She was scared of the monster that for some twisted reason was after her kin to...she didn't even want to fathom the possibilities.

This is why she was desperate to escape this horrid place.

It was all in vain however. Not only was she bound in movement, but she was trapped by an alchemy-created dome-like wall surrounding her completely.

She couldn't do anything to save her. The only thing she could do at the moment is pray to a God that listened to her petitions.

_Please keep my Winry safe._

.

.

* * *

_*Nobody believes me when I tell them that you're out of your mind. Nobody believes me when I tell em' that there's so much to hide...*_


	6. The Mistake in Truth

_._

_._

_The darkness was replaced by millions of bright pictures._

_Of everything. __Everyone. The world._

_The pictures zipped by so fast that they only appeared for a mere half-second before changing into another different image. It was like a movie projected only it was coming from his own eyes. An entire universe's worth of knowledge was trying to cram its way into his skull, bombarding him with unlimited amounts of information that no other human being could ever possibly know._

_The sheer massive amount of intellectual substance was proving almost too much for his tender brain, and it threatened to split it in half because of the excruciating migraine that came as a nasty side-effect. He could not take it anymore. He had to put his hands firmly to his head in agonizing pain since he felt it might explode any moment. It was too much._

_Too damn much._

_'Stop...'_

_'Fuck, stop this, STOP!' He had wanted to scream his current thoughts out on top of his lungs. His mouth, however, stayed clamped shut. His entire body felt so hot, it felt like it burned to the core. Many voices. They spoke at the same time, all overlapping each other. Disturbing, haunting and strangely familiar. Some voices he recognized. Some he didn't. He couldn't even make sense of it all._

_He suddenly retched violently, almost to the point where it felt that his eyes would pop out of their sockets and freezing pain was running through his body, like it something was ripping out part of his essence. He could not quite comprehend it or try to stop it but he could definitely feel it. It was powerful, wrenching and definitely unpleasant. Once he looked down at his body, he saw a red glow forming around it and some black mass threatening to come out of his chest. He then heard a prominent amused voice, loud and bold against all the others, say:_

_'Equivalent Exchange.'_

_He understood immediately what was happening . It was Truth. It was taking his near-immortality, his regenerative properties, his general invincibility. It was taking away what made him a homunculus. He could practically see that despicable smile of Truth, and telling him; "After all, the gate doesn't let you go without having to pay a price." But do all of otherworldly processes need to be this fucking painful? Suddenly, his windpipe closed and breathing was out of the question. _

_Everything faded out to a fluorescent white**...**_**...****And** faded back in a cold and uninviting place.

Violet eyes had barely opened half-way there;the cool stone floor was the first sensation on his left cheek. His body was sprawled similar to like a rag doll, lying on a place he did not familiarize with. Painfully and tediously, he shakily brought his legs in front of himself so he could stand up, poised and tall. As soon as he did, he realized that he was in a narrow hallway, with walls and ceiling made out of cobblestone. Jagged pieces of rocks were now mainly covering the once-smooth floor, like if someone had embedded different explosives between the rocks and blew them up.

The entire place looked like a war zone. Suddenly the sight before him seemed all-too familiar. Envy's thin arched brows furrowed as he crouched over to the only unblemished slab of the ground to inspect its color . The rock was not initially black, only that it was charred from combustion...His plum orbs widened in fear.

Fire.

"Shit." He said between gritted teeth and immediately jumped up into standing position, taking a couple of steps back where he now saw even more the carbon-black burn marks that were present. He was in the very same location where he ceased to exist from this world. The underground hallway where he was supposed to not let any humans in.

That same place where that bastard Roy Mustang a.k.a the Flame Alchemist burned him alive over and over until he could take no longer. Envy's mind involuntarily took him back to the memory.

-He could not escape him anymore. Roy was already waiting for him with a fierce explosive attack, which meant that he ignited his body the fastest he could. He didn't let Envy regenerate and his body finally gave out, only his parasitic form was left. Mustang almost crushed him with only his foot, towering over his meager existence with a blind fury in his onyx eyes. The homunculus couldn't do anything except flail his little green legs around pathetically. The alchemist only looked at him like if he was seeing the most repulsive thing ever existed.

_"This is the real you, huh? No wonder you hide behind so many faces. You're ugly." Roy spat, disdain clear and obvious in his voice.-_

That comment had stung him so deep, it made his stomach drop just thinking about it. He killed his best friend, so now it was justified to squash him? A low snarl escaped his lips as Envy's cat eyes narrowed. Then again, that son of a bitch murdered Lust! It was fair game! But no, that motherfucker wanted revenge.

And he was so close to getting it. Just a little more pressure from his steel-toed boot and he would have been splattered meat. But that Fullmetal brat and blonde gun woman stepped in and stopped that crazy flaming psycho before he killed him. Then, everyone started spewing a whole bunch of crap about how they would stick together or some other bullshit that Envy could not believe his microscopic ears when he heard it. He called them all out, but was soon silenced by Edward.

The pipsqueak had said things that he had never wanted to hear, never wanted to someone to say out-loud.

_"Now I see. You're Jealous... You're jealous of humans aren't you?" Edward stated clearly, with no doubts of parasite's eyes were wide and filled with a fear after hearing his voice._

_"__According to you, humans are supposed to be a lot weaker than Homunculi. And yet, even if they get discouraged after being beaten, and even if they get close to falling down after losing their paths, they continue to get up and fight." Edward had such a sympathetic look in those yellow-looking eyes of his it made him want to vomit._

_He kept on talking things he didn't want to hear, and he wanted him to stop._

Many emotions coursed through him when Ed wouldn't shut his trap. He had squirmed out of Edward's grasp and looked around the others. They all had that same expression on their faces; a pitying expression you give when you see a limping dog that looks like it had not been fed for weeks. Never had he felt so humiliated in his life. How could he have said that?! How could that beansprout say, that HE could be envious of humans?

How could...how could such a young boy speak the truth about him?

Why did he have to be the only one to understand him? Envy had to shut his eyes tightly at the worst memory of all formed in his head...when he began to cry. How could he sob when they were the ones that had to be sobbing? They were inferior! Yet he was the one that wailed and screamed in sorrow. So humiliated. All of his large pride and ego destroyed in one shattering hit. And when, he felt he could not face seeing those people with tears running down his large eyes anymore, his small stubby legs reached in to his mouth to pull his life source.

_After the disgrace that he displayed, he could not live in this earth anymore. He chuckled sardonically, looking up once more for the final time at the people before him."I guess I won't be seeing how long you keep this up." __The blood red philosopher's stone was now gleaming out in the open in his small green hands. The microscopic fingers pressed against the stone,wrenching it away from the thin flesh-colored tissues that transported the stone to his entire body._

_"But do try your best with the pipsqueak." A sound of flesh ripping, and a small cry of anguish rang in the air. __The shattering of the philosopher's stone resonated in the narrow hallway.__The last thing he was was Ed's shocked face look at him, like he shouldn't have done that. Like if Ed would actually be sad after his death. Of course, that couldn't be correct._

_"Bye-bye. Edward...Elric..."_

"Damn it, DAMN IT." He swore at himself, blinking away rapidly tears. It was like reminiscing such horrible things made him experience the same exact emotions that day when he killed himself. And to cry twice...that was a despicable thing, to say the least. The initially sorrowful emotions turned into one of anger.

"What the fuck's wrong with you, moron?!" He snarled, his thin left hand violently wiped on his blood shot eyes, almost scratching the cornea completely to rid the sensation of tears. "Crying like some _human_ who got his heart broken? You don't have a heart!" He lunged to one of the smooth areas of a wall and crushed his fist into the hard rock. The sudden movement made his breath ragged and and the thrill of violence made his eyes shine in wicked pleasure, enough for him to forget the initial sorrows and the stinging pain of his injured hand.

_Lub-dub_

What the _hell_ was that?

_Lub-dub_

His other hand gripped the front of his chest tightly. Almost to the point where he ripped the skin mimicking cloth that covered his lean muscular form. The resonating beats, it couldn't come from within him, could it? It was deafening to his ears. Shit, had his body ever pulsed so freaking loudly before? No, it never had. Because the Philosopher's stone was the core. The black 'blood' inside him that beat through his make-believe veins was merely the stone in one of its many forms, strengthening him while he fought the opponent. It was definitely gone though. He had destroyed it! Now, however, it was different. He had a heart.

A HUMAN heart.

He was turning out to be just like them! No, he didn't want that. He liked being a homunculus very much, thank you! And to be kinda human? That was just unacceptable. He might as well be a parasite! He might as well commit suicide again!

_No, no._ Do not think erratically. Keep calm. It's not all bad right? He quickly glanced at the ouroubos tattoo stamped on his thigh, and gave a sigh of relief. He was still somewhat sorta a homunculus...but with a heart?

_Truth didn't really say on what state I'll be back, so maybe I can still shapeshift..._

He focused his energy on his center, as he always did when he was going to undergo a transformation. The red glow was back on his skin and his facial features started to change, his hair became golden and his eyes looked yellow. A perfect imitation of Edward Elric. Minus the psychotic grin that marred the usually cheerful face.

Yes! He could still shape-shift! Not everything was as horrible it seemed a few seconds ago.

Every single detail was exact. If only he transmute stuff like that twerp could, it would be perfect. Envy had seen the Truth, he had passed through the Gates. However, even though many of his abilities were taken from him, he probably still had the label of being a homunculus."Wouldn't that be interesting." He mused to himself, still in Ed's form with a sneer.

Just for the heck of it, he clapped his hands loudly, with a determined look on his face that he had seen and copied from the real pipsqueak. His knees bowed down slightly, enough for him to plant his palms firmly on the ground before him. Before his hands touched the bottom, he chuckled. It was like he was expecting something to happen!

What happened next only took three seconds.

He first noted that there was a weird tingling in his hands. Then he saw the ground beneath him was rumbling with blue lightning sparks.

**BOOM****!**

"AAAAAHH!" He shouted effeminately as he was thrown back by the force of a large slab of rock that appeared out of thin air in front of force was enough to make him topple over some debris and make him come crashing down painfully. He was soon up, already in his preferred form, crawling over to the monument of rock in awe.

Envy was at loss for words and he sat upright, shell-shocked at what was there in front of his nose.

What he _created_.

In all of his life, he only destroyed. People, objects, souls, lives. He loved it so much, to see things crash and burn before his eyes. It was like a spike of endorphin to his fake nervous system. Now, for the first time ever, he created something. He started chuckling once again. He then gracefully ran a pale hand over his wispy hair, making the strands cascade against the red triangle symbol that was stamped on his black headband. The muscular chest puffed out arrogantly as his laughter grew in volume and became more sinister.

Laughing.

Laughing until his abs hurt.

His violet orbs had a hazed foggy look to them. The laughing, after many attempts, finally ceased but the wide grin that showed large sharp teeth did not. "Oh God. Truth..." Envy put his hands on his face maddeningly, his eyes wide with glee.

His voice grew low and menacing.

"You're such a _fucking _idiot." The malicious smirk never ceased to fall from his mouth.

* * *

_*Tell me what you want me to be, what you want me to be.  
I can be the one you want, all you niggas in the back come drag me down, yes.*_


	7. All Fair's in Games and Fun

_*So I've stayed up all night... with these bloodshot eyes.  
While these walls surround me with the story of our life.*_

-Slight humor/sexual content-

* * *

Winry awoke to the delicious aroma of pancakes wafting through her room.

She was too groggy to wonder the whereabouts of the food just yet, and dragged her feet downstairs like if she had all the time in the world. Her lips curled into a smile, just thinking about the mouthwatering breakfast that awaited her in the kitchen. _Gosh, I'm so hungry I could eat a damn cow._

Her heavy eyelids closed and opening slowly, still adjusting to the weak but still unwelcome sunlight that entered the large windows in the living room. She licked her lips, and called out in a small sleepy voice. "Ed?" Her small white hand scratched at the top of her head, tangling her already unkempt blonde hair. Her thin fingers quickly retracted from her scalp however, when she accidentally scraped her still fresh wound. Winry hissed in pain and looked at her fingernails to find them encrusted with dried blood. "Ew."

Winry shrugged and wiped her hand on her thin nightgown, not caring that it was white, and yawned in a quite unladylike manner. The scent was getting stronger, and it made her stomach rumble in anticipation. Outside was a haze of pink, orange yellow and blue, with the sun shining its first visible rays across the sky. It was probably like around six in the morning, which explained why she was so sleepy.

"Hey, Ed I didn't know you cook-" Her words were halted abruptly. The girl's once half-opened eyes were wide and as big as saucers. His grinning flour-splattered face was the first thing that greeted her when she stepped into the kitchen. Edward Elric was currently setting down a delectable-looking stack of pancakes wearing an apron. A very small _pink _girly apron and nothing else. Except some ridiculously short boxers.

A small gasp escaped her mouth as her cerulean eyes traveled lower to his body. Her cheeks went aflame in dark red and her hand instinctively covered her eyes in shock. "W-What the _hell_, Ed!" She stuttered, trying to sound angry, all while turning her head the other way. What was wrong with her? Every time he needed maintenance, he stripped down to how he was right now.

But did he always look that attractive?

Her eyes couldn't help but peek beneath her hand and she drank in his athletic figure like a horny school girl. Worst of all, the tiny apron did nothing but stick to his muscles, and highlighting them even more. It actually made him look even _more _irresistible. _God, I need psychological help._

"What?" Edward asked, a little confused about her current behavior. He then looked down, and his eyes widened for a split second. "Ah shit." He muttered, and in a haste, his hands were behind his back untying the neat little bow that he had meticulously made and let the frilly apron fall to the floor. "Hehe...sorry about that." Her expression was one of utter surprise. Not only did he not notice the fact that he was unclothed in front of her, but he thought the problem was the flimsy apron. When the hell had he gotten rock-hard abs?

"EDWARD!" Once again, her hands flew to her face to shield her from the 'horrifying' image, her blood feeling like a million degrees. "Go put some damn clothes on!" His eyebrow raised. What in the world was wrong with her? He was her fiancee, and she was getting flustered with him in underwear? "Why?"

"W-what do you mean why?! Obviously you cant be strutting out here practically _naked_ like you own the place and expect me to be all nonchalant about it-"

"Look babe," Her jaw dropped open."you're still stressing about yesterday. I know I was an asshole to you and to apologize, I made you pancakes!"

Winry was still shell-shocked at the fact that this very same person standing right in front of her, alias Edward Elric, had just mentioned a term of affection. _For HER. _The golden haired boy didn't seem to notice Winry's quite obvious 'WTF' face and put her chair out like quite the gentleman. Was he trying to butter her up for something? Maybe he broke his automail without her noticing. Or maybe he's playing a cruel prank on her.

"Nice try, Ed! I know what you're up to and you don't seriously expect me to forgive you with pancakes-"

His head bowed a little bit, like if he was ashamed. "I promise I'm not trying to trick you, Win. I'm really truly sorry." He then looked at her directly with those beautiful feral-like eyes that only he possesses and approached her. His firm hands gripped her shoulders and his whole face softened.

"I love you."

Did her heart just stop?

"..._What_?"

_Oh lord, I think I just might faint. Is this a dream?_

He gave her a dazzling smile, that would make any girl swoon at her feet . His eyes, however seemed a bit strange. The golden irises had a troubling amusement to them.

"Come on, the pancakes are getting cold. Let's eat. " Her lips could not help but curl up into a large beaming smile. The girl unwillingly softened to his sweet words and felt giddy inside.

There was a God!

After like a thousand years of praying to whoever was listening that Edward would be a _little _bit more of a romantic, He finally listened! She couldn't believe it, and it was right in front of her nose. It almost made her want to hug the living bejeezuz out of him but she had to to control her urges. If she acted too forward, he could get sucked back in that god-awful 'Do I know you?' behavior. She sighed, content.

For the two years that Ed had stayed with her, and the one year that he left for more research, Winry always had that nagging doubt in her mind. _Would it kill him to be a bit affectionate once in a while?_

She always got depressed when she saw other couples, holding hands and kissing. The true epitome of love. And Edward? He was either burying his nose in an Alchemy book or traveling to God-knows-where. It frustrated her so much that she literally wanted to hit him in the wrench for no reason and yell at him "ED, JEEZ! AM I LIKE PAINTED ON THE WALL OR SOMETHING!?"

But now, he was actually trying to be normal for once!

She inched her way to the wooden chair, a sparkle in her eyes. "Gee, Ed. Thanks." Her cheeks were rose pink, and her orbs were filled with awe and amazement. She then commenced to eat her breakfast.

"So, you do forgive me?" His melted gold eyes were like poison to her resolve. She sighed, and tried to fight back the smile. "Yes, Ed. I forgive you."

_"About time..."_

"Did you say something?"

"Oh no, nothing. Soooo. Have you spoken to... Al lately?" He asked casually, stabbing at his own pancakes randomly. "Actually, now that you mention it, I talked to him yesterday. He told me he was coming home, as soon as possible! So, it could be any day now."

The boy grinned. "Really?" He said, interest clear in his tone. She nodded and took her glass of milk in her hand, about to take a drink. She was distracted however, when he abruptly cleared his throat and his finger motioned for her to get closer. She reluctantly complied to his silent order to have him almost press his lips against her hair, and whisper in her ear.

"And why would we want him back so soon?"

SPLASH!

"Ohmygod, Ed I'm so sorry!" Winry stood up in a flash, hands covering her mouth. Nice move, dork. She had, in her dumb shock, dropped her glass of milk all over his lap. He just grinned, while looking down at his wet boxers. "It's alright, Win. Don't worry about it."

Winry however, was at the sink, looking for the grey towel that was used to dry the dishes to clean up the mess she created. "God, I'm such a dumbass." She muttered to herself as she found it and rushed to his side. The milk absolutely soaked the only piece of cloth he had on, and made it stick to his skin. In her frenzy, it was not noticed even as she was on her knees.

That is, until she without thinking pressed the towel to his crotch.

Ed's lips curled in amusement at her hands unknowingly near to his manhood, while Winry was desperately trying to sop up the remaining milk. A stifled snicker came out of his lips. She looked up to him, startled at the sudden sound and then looked straight ahead. The first thing that seemed to be in sight was...

A loud very screechy gasp resonated all around the house.

_Oh...my...god._

Winry's eyes shut tight, almost dying of embarrassment. The towel dropped to the flood and she got up on her feet in a split second. Her face was once again red, and her vision was directly to her feet. She wouldn't be able to stand to look at Edward's expression. If she had looked up, she would have seen him wearing a ear-splitting grin. Like if this was all some type of game for him.

"What's wrong, Win?" A hand snaked around her waist, which made her gasp once again and forced her to lock eyes with him. His orbs were filled with a fire that she had never seen before. And his smile was mesmerizing. Her heart sped up in such an amazingly effortless way that she knew that it would be any time before she dropped to the floor because of a heart attack.

"Uh, nothing. I'm just sorry-"

"Sorry for what?" His face had a expression of mock confusion. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yea, I t-threw the milk on you.." Edward grinned even wider. Oh, she knew that he wasn't talking about spilled milk. His other arm was suddenly around her waist, encircling her. Pressing her against his wet skin.

"Uh, Ed. Um, you should get changed, " She stopped her sentence in midair as Edward's eyes pierced right into her, reading her like a book. Her heart beat erratically, thumping loudly against her ears.

"You know, Win? I really missed you all that time." His voice grew lower and huskier. Her entire back shivered, goosebumps covering her entire skin. She suddenly felt herself hold her breath as she noticed that she could feel his warm breath on her lips, and all of her body felt electrified with his own touch. It felt like her veins were on fire. A slow, burning hot fire.

She exhaled slowly, and he smiled at her sudden stiffness.

"I missed you too." She finally whispered back to him, her dilated pupils staring intently at his lips.

One hand was running down her back, fingers raking across her pale white skin and the other was firmly grasping her waist. Her own small delicate hands ran down his abs, savoring the touch of the tight muscle. His face seemed to get closer by the second, to the point where she actually felt his lips brush against hers. Her entire being felt like it was struck by lightning just by the sensations that her overly sensitive lips were receiving. His mouth then moved to the side ever so slowly, as if he was teasing her and then ended right at her ear.

She could hear his heavy breaths and then a breezy phrase. "I'mma change."

Bam. He was gone.

He had immediately distanced himself from her and went upstairs to his room, like if nothing had happened. Winry was still standing there in the kitchen, her knees trembling , with the same fire that had been previously in Edward's eyes. Her hands were now at her chest, her heart hammering quite loudly. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding out as her mind was reeling by the events that had occurred between her and Ed. That look in his eyes...

The same look made her feel different. His touch was suddenly burning to her over sensitized body, which was still tingling aftermath. She didn't even know what to think about what had happened. Was it something good? Bad? All she knew was, that it was definitely something new.

..

He stepped into his room, looking very pleased.

The girl was too easy to trick. All it took to make her all happy was some nice words and giving her something as simple as pancakes, and she melted into a puddle before him. The pink apron was a little slip-up, (he really didn't want to get dirty. And what's _wrong_ with the color pink?!) but it didn't matter. He had Winry wrapped around his finger.

_I swear, women. Idiots._

He started chuckling, the smirk never leaving his mouth. He couldn't resist himself. She was just too damn flustered at everything he did. So why not push her buttons? It really was a very entertaining game for him. She had it rough. If he was her fiancee and his mere touch made her react like that, then one certain alchemist had been acting like a pussy for a very_very_ long time.

Poor girl. She was most definitely a virgin. Damn shame she is stuck with the Pipsqueak. The girl has a certain appealing air to her, though definitely the opposite type that his sister did. He would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the little 'moment' that both of them had shared a while ago.

"I'm gonna have fun with you, little mechanic." A bright flash was emitted around his figure. Dark sharp looking evergreen strands were the first thing that sprouted from his head. Deep violet eyes opened, wicked amusement present in his fathomless orbs.

Envy licked his now sharp teeth, and grinned.

"I hope your boyfriend doesn't mind _too_ much."

* * *

_*It starts with one,; _  
_one thing, I don't know why, _  
_It doesn't even matter how hard you try. _

_Keep that in mind.*_


	8. Searches and Nightmares

_*Bring the action. When we hit us in the club, you gonna turn the shit up.  
When we up in the club, all on us.*_

-Strong **M **rating (implied rape, explicit graphic detais) for Dream sequence-

* * *

.

Envy shielded his amethyst eyes from the harsh sunlight that lit the once dark underground cave Father had created to make forward with his master plan.

The entire rock ceiling had collapsed, so it revealed a beautiful blue sky. Seeing all of this somehow made him feel different. It was like there was sentiments that were new to him, since the ones that had presented to himself the 200 rounded years he had lived were only hate, anger, sadness, self-loathing, annoyance and most importantly, envy. There was the occasional happiness of seeing other suffer, but that was it; no other positive emotions. Now, it seems that the door had opened completely to feel things like wonder when he saw the big fluffy clouds that floated in the atmosphere seamlessly , curiosity of wanting to know what happened to all of the population of Amestris, content because he was alive and well,...who knows how many other there are?! Maybe this is why humans stick together. Because they feel too much for their own damn good.

He looked at his hands, once again feeling that unfamiliar wonder. Envy was always gender less. For the sake of people categorizing him as an object,which was just downright rude, he preferred to be known as either male or female. The humans had mostly classified him as a guy, which was just fine with him as it would have been if they categorized him as a girl...which he has heard a few times... However, as a homunculus he was created with no set sex. Father used to say because there were concepts that he had desired from both men and women so Envy could not have one gender. There was something off about his body however. He for the first time ever, did not feel like an _it_. He was a male, coming to this conclusion when he felt an uncomfortable...organ lodged in between his legs.

_What does this mean?_

Value.

He finally had a gender.

_Hmm._

He looked down at himself, which he knew by human standards was not acceptable male appearance. The extremely long hair and skimpy stripper-like clothing. Would they have to go? _Fuck no! I'm staying exactly the same, I like how I look! Hmph, don't give shit of what they say. That is that._

Envy then gingerly caressed his own skin, relishing in the unfamiliar warm feel. He was always practically frozen to the touch, and now it was just so different. A steady heartbeat was always present in his ears, which would take some time to get used to, and he felt a slight chill in the air. He knew that he should be disgusted by being practically a human, but weirdly enough he wasn't too horrified by the idea.

_I wonder if the others feel the same._ His thoughts halted as another thought came into his mind. The others.

Truth had said something that really caught his attention. Before leaving, he said he wasn't the only one that got another chance. Another one of his 'kin' was alive as well! Was there a possibility that maybe Father was the one that was given a second chance? It could be, since he was the First homunculus.

For the Truth to give the one that almost wiped out an entire country a chance though, was not the wisest choice. He rather doubted that it was either Gluttony or Sloth, since in a nutshell, did not really have mental capacities per-say to actually know what they were doing was wrong. No point in bringing on back since they wouldn't 'learn' from their mistakes. It wasn't like Envy himself was learning from his quote mistakes unquote, but who cares. Could it be Wrath or Greed? He wasn't too sure since both of them were actually humans infused with the philosopher's stone. Humans do not receive a second chance when they die, so why should they? That meant Pride and Lust were the only ones that were probably saved. The Truth didn't specify if it was just one or more, so it could definitely be both or one or the other.

He needed to find them, to know that he wasn't alone (no clue why he suddenly cares if he's alone or not, probably another "human" side effect). Secretly, though he hoped that it was only Lust, the only one that he felt that really understood him and had the power to keep his mind peaceful. Pride was a fricking pain in the ass.

Now, to locate them would be difficult. What if they were far away? Like Xing? Maybe even Creta?! Well, Amestris was a good start. He was currently situated in Central, so might as well take it from there. A few agonizing seconds later of trying to transform into a bird, he realized that his shape-shifting abilities were also limited. He tried to make his arm into a dagger like he had seen the Fullmetal pipsqueak done so many times before and found that it was impossible. From now on, he could only turn into other people, which really was annoying at the moment since he had to walk up all of those stairs that led to the exit for Central Headquarters.

No superhuman strength or endurance. Just walking like a normal person. He winced at the billionth stair case that was in front of him and sighed as he had no other choice but to take them. "Isn't there a damn elevator around here?"

..

"I could have transmutated the rock instead of walking up all of those stairs." The green-haired teen shook his head at the thought. He still wasn't accustomed to have the ability of alchemy at the tip of his fingertips. Well, he was already at the top, no use in crying over spilled milk.  
"Now...who should I change to?" He pondered as he stepped out of the abandoned Central headquarters. He was a little puzzled in why there was no one there. How long has it been since he was brought back? He also needed to find that out. It was probably not much later after Father was defeated since the buildings were still in ruins, and the military would have fixed it between the 1 to 5 year mark.

Envy closed his eyes and randomly thought of people's faces that he had seen, picking one at random.

He chose a blonde, blue-eyed woman with full lips that was beautiful but with a frighteningly fierce look in her eyes. From his hazy memory of this woman, she was in the military and always carried a sword with her. "Let's change the military uniform into a blouse and skirt and make the sword disappear." It was probably not the smartest thing to change into someone wearing a uniform who might be recognized easily.

In a flash, Envy had now the face and body of Olivier Mira Armstrong wearing a skirt much similar to the one he usually wears and with a white camisole top. He walked at an intersection, analyzing every single aspect. Everything looked normal. All the people were strolling around with no care to the world.

How could they forget what happened so quickly? Maybe he did miss out on a lot that happened.

As soon as he was in the busy streets of Central, he noticed a middle-aged woman walking pretty nonchalantly with a small young boy, holding her hand. Envy stiffened after narrowing his eyes a bit to see her better. Wait a damn minute.

It was Mrs. Bradley! That young boy with black hair... PRIDE!

"Well that certainly didn't take long."

He immediately started stride towards them catch up to the lady and Pride, but then halted. It would attract attention if he suddenly start speaking to the lady and ask about his son, when he wasn't even sure that this woman and Mrs. Bradley met. If he shifted to a small child it would not seem suspicious, but how could he change appearance in a public street? He couldn't go hide since he might lose the two and he definitely did not want to risk that happening.

Shit, he would have to follow them like some kind of creepy stalker. "Move outta my way,"He pushed past people, trying to get closer to Selim and the woman. His voice was effeminate enough for him not to change it to fit the body. It would only take two seconds, he just needed some corner or an alleyway. They walked for many blocks before taking a right into a residential street. They were probably heading for the Bradley mansion.

Soon enough, he had the chance to switch quickly since the resident areas were pretty lonely and opted for the face of a familiar girl. She had large green eyes and light brown hair pulled into two adorable pigtails. Now, how would he get their attention?

"Mrs. Bradley!"A small squeaky child voice escaped Envy's lips as his stubby legs ran as fast as he could to the aging woman. Both she and Selim turned around to see a little girl, with a distressed expression on her face, clinging to her A-line skirt. "My, my Elicia Hughes!" The concerned woman crouched down to the girl, who then realized who he was impersonating_._

_His daughter._

"What are you doing around here without your mother, honey?"

"I..I lost her."

Mrs. Bradley smiled and held out her hand to the small girl. "Well, we will just have to find her, won't we?" Envy gave his best adorable smile, and reluctantly held the woman's hand as they started walking to the front of the mansion. As his fake green eyes landed on Selim's face, he beamed at her. "Hi, Elishia. My name is Selim, and it's nice to meet you!" His coal-black orbs sparkled in excitement at the prospect of having someone to play with. The small child's face wrinkled in distaste.

He never liked Pride's little nice boy facade.

"Hi." Envy quipped quite rudely.

"Make yourself at home, Elicia. I'm going to call your mother."The disguised sin entered the large furnished living room, and cursed under his breath. Already gonna call the little shit's mother? Damn, he needed to do this fast. "Hey, Selim let's go play!" The boy immediately smiled, nodding. "Yeah, let me take you to my room!"

Mrs Bradley merely smiled at the cute display before her and shooed them away."Alright, go on have a little fun."

The minute Selim closed the door to his room, he started speaking rapidly, " Oh Gosh, this is the first time a girl's ever been to my room! What do you wanna play, I have actions figures, and a couple of toy trucks, don't tell anyone this but I have some dolls-"

The make-believe Elicia dismissed his comments with a wave of her hand, the same emotion of disgust wrinkling her features. "You don't have to pretend, you know. She's gone." Envy's true voice came out of the girl's lips, startling Selim. The sin had thought to switch right back to his original form but found it better to stay in this form until the mother wasn't near. She could pop up any second. "Who?"

He groaned audibly. "Pride, I'm not in the fuckin' mood. Just tell me how you escaped from the Gate. What did the Truth take from you?" He knew that Pride could skewer him with his shadows since the tone of voice he resorted to talking to his eldest brother was anything but respectful, but hey. He seriously wasn't in a good mood.

Selim's eyes were wide in confusion and fear. "Umm... Lishia, you just said a bad word-"

Envy growled, clearly irritated. "Did Lust escape? Is it only you? Why the hell aren't you answering any of my questions? And why the FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?" His temporarily vivid green eyes flashed at him in rage. The entire scene overall was downright frightening to the little boy.

"I-I-I don-" His bottom lip quivered, his eyes becoming unusually glassy. "I'm scared-MOMMY!" He started wailing, tears overflowing . " MOMMY!"

"Shutupshutup, SHUT UP! What's wrong with you?!"

Selim kept blubbering for his mother, so Envy had to tackle him and clap his hand over the stupid child's mouth in order to silence him before he got any louder. He stared directly into the boy's horrified eyes. "Selim?" He heard the alarmed voice of the older woman. He had no choice but to look for an escape. Quickly. Once, twice he looked around the room and found an open window from which he could jump from before the mother showed up. He was gone in a second, leaving a hysterical Selim.

..

After trying to turn into several different types of animals, he found that everything was a complete and utter failure. Instead, he merged back into his initial disguise of the blonde blue-eyed woman and walked along the busy streets of downtown Central. Guessing from what happened, turning into animals or shifting his limbs to weapons were prohibited.

It was so bizarre how Pride reacted to him; he was acting like a dumb six year old! Being all confused at things that he KNOWS. What really fucked with his mind was how Pride looked like if he saw the Devil himself. The true terror that was present in the boy's eyes was unimaginable. The emotion in those large childish eyes was so real and genuine that Envy knew in his mind that he could not deny it.

Pride the arrogant, the eldest of their dysfunctional 'family', did not recognize him.

_How could this be? Did he have some sort of trauma? What could explain this?!_

Immediately, the brilliant idea hit his brain.

_That's it! Truth took his memory! Yes, now it all makes perfect sense. He doesn't remember me , he doesn't remember his past life-and being a completely and total asshole-and believes he is a normal child like the others._

_It must be that._

_Aaand, I'm back to square one. __Now where would I go? I have no leads... I don't even know if Lust is alive. Fuck, I just hope she is because if I have to stay with Pride, I'm gonna shoot myself._

It was time to wander all of Central to begin with. He made a mental checklist of the points that they had been together at a mission.

Liore.

Briggs.

Well, he could start looking there. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't be in any of those places. Lust had a habit of surprising him, to be unpredictable and change her mind about the simplest of things in a split second.

Drachma.

He had the strangest premonition that Lust would definitely be there. It was a long way but he was ready to go there. Whatever it took, he would find her.

* * *

_Winry's beautiful azure eyes was the first thing in sight._

_She had a torn, skimpy, and blood-splattered nighty and the girl was shackled to a stony floor.__ He was currently walking up to her crumpled form. Her eyes leaked salty tears by the second. There was a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, as he heard her sob without console.__"Winry.. Winry!" He tried to speak to her. He tried to calm her down, but no noise came out of his mouth whatsoever. His hand reached for her shoulder but to his surprise, it went right through her like if he was a ghost. She wasn't afraid of him because she couldn't see him; therefore it was like he didn't even exist in this time and place._

_If it wasn't him, then who was she terrified at? Heavy footsteps thudded against the smooth stone, growing closer. Creeping up like a shadow, unexpected. Winry started to whimper loudly, her eyes widened in utter horror at the fate that was to come. He turned around to see who threatened the blond girl's sanity so much and almost choked in shock._

_It was him. It was his exact replica. Edward Elric's face was marred with a psychotic grin, but instead of wearing his usual trademark red coat, he had a homunculus outfit. To be exact, he had Envy's outfit. His long blonde hair was free from his usual ponytail or braid, now loose against his back. __Ed gasped at his look-alike, seeing that sadistic expression in his own face, and almost felt like he would throw up. The cause of Winry's pain was him. He who tried to protect her from whatever costs. The doppelganger's grin grew wider and he started laughing as if pleased with the girl's suffering._

_"No, please. Please not again... I don't want this." Winry's broken voice shattered his heart. The yellow haired teenager approached the crying blonde and started to caress her pale skin roughly, petting her like a dog. __'Don't fucking touch her.' He couldn't help but snarl, but was heard by no one. The Ed replica's eyes shined._

_His nimble fingers grasped the thin spaghetti straps that held the thin material to her chest, slowly uncovering her shoulders. __"Please. No, PLEASE!" She sobbed. __She was pleading him to not do something again._

_Again? Had he...?_

_Oh my God, No._

_He had..._

_'YOU BASTARD! 'Edward screamed at his doppelganger, lunging for him. All in vain when his fist landed on the hard wall instead of his intended target. There was absolutely nothing he could do, merely watch the horrific sight in front of him._

_He smirked. A loud smack across her cheek, making her lip split open. __"If I look like him, then I am him right?"_

_The nighty was discarded to the cold floor, leaving Winry exposed and ashamed. "What do you prefer, dear? Calling me Edward, and seeing Edward or calling me by my name and seeing me?" He grinned, disgusting smile still there, boiling his blood._

_"It h-hurts so much Envy. Please." His heart stopped cold at hearing the tormentor's name Of course it would be HIM._

_"Then you made your choice."_

_A brilliant flash of white and Edward was gone, replaced by the muscular lean form of the envious sin. Jade strands flowed breezily, there was a large smile on his handsome face, and a sharp knife for a right arm. He unexpectedly tackled Winry to the floor and pressed the blade to her throat._

_"WINRY!" Edward screamed, and already was running to her. He hated that he couldn't help her at all. Useless._

_She couldn't contain her shrieks and wails._

_"Now be a good girl and shut the hell up." His free arm started to pry her legs open, in which made Ed roar in fury. She tried to squeeze her thighs as hard as she could, but knew that in the end, she would have no choice but to give in like she always had to. __Edward was trying to find of a way to get Envy off of her, but no matter what he did, his hands went right through him. He screamed in his ear and tried to kick him and punch him various times but everything failed. All he could was witness in terror the traumatic scene before him._

_Though Envy had pressed a sharp knife to her throat to keep her quiet and not resisting, the heart-wrenching sobs that rippled through her chest were not contained._

_"-NOOOOOOOOOO!" She cried hysterically._

"NO!"

Edward popped his eyes open, effectively waking up from his nightmare. Breathing raggedly, he sat up on his bed, sweating bullets . The only sounds that he could hear in the pitch-black room was his heavy panting.

His golden eyes scanned each corner of his room as if really acknowledging that what he had witnessed was _not _reality and just a horrible dream. A horrible, _horrible _dream. He had the a great urge to call Winry right now to make sure she was alright.

"No, she's probably sleeping. Don't be an idiot, it's just a dream." He told himself, in an attempt to calm his nerves. Still, Ed couldn't help but worry about his beloved childhood friend. He got out of bed, clearly not being able to sleep soundly anymore and sat on a chair that was directly opposite a large window sill. He looked at the full moon before him and at the bright stars that light up the night sky and felt the same dread in his stomach that was present in his dream.

It was just so weird.

The dream felt like a warning.

But a warning of what?

* * *

_*Seduceme cuando me ve, demonio estilo mujer._  
_Dime si no es asi, cuando usas la mini-falda.*_

Helpful dream image: Pride!Ed in blue-birds illusion game sans-weird red tattoos

-iAnneart


	9. Alchemy's flaw

_*I hate you, everything about you, don't want to be in love with you nomore.  
Don't want to be around you, touch you fuck you.*_

* * *

.

"Stab them in heart. Make them bleed out..." Envy muttered out.

The pillow was currently ripped out, the feathery white entrails scattered over the wooden floorboards. Gray sheets flowed gracelessly to the side of the bed, while a muscular arm was thrown carelessly on the edge of the mattress, fingers almost touching the boards. The silhouette of a lean young man was barely outlined beneath the thick pearly-white duvet. The only thing visible other than his left arm was his long forest green hair that sprawled over the mattress like thin soft spikes.

"Hear their screams for mercy," He kept on speaking, eyes closed in a deep content slumber. "...and rip their throat out." His words were muffled by the comforter, almost inaudible. His hand would twitch suddenly, almost spasmodically as his whole body stiffened for a small millisecond and then would relax, growing limp like a puppet. He groaned, and then turned over to the right side of the bed, his uncovered arm now being tucked underneath his head like a makeshift pillow. In one swift movement, he subconsciously kicked the duvet off his body and took his knees in close to his chest, forming a sort of cocoon.

The sin never had slept in his entire life, since humunculi never had the need to rest, they just regenerated by themselves, courtesy of their philosopher's stone. Now that he needed sleep, he found it to be one of the most wondrous things that he had ever experienced. It was the best feeling in the world! How the world seems to fade away as ones drifts into a subconscious field that no one has explained with certainty; it was just magnificent. If he could, he would never wake up from his slumber. No worries or cares, just a deep wonderful sleep...

BAM! The mahogany door suddenly slammed open by a cheerful Winry. "Hey, Ed,what do you want for dinner-"

Envy's eyes popped open before she could even get a word out, and in record speed, he grabbed the comforter that was lying on the ground to cover himself from the girl's sight. " DAMMIT, woman!" He yelled out, mustering up his most irritated tone. "Do you _knock_?" Thankfully, it seems that she did not see anything since she then continued in her same annoyingly optimistic voice. "Well I can, but this _is _my house."

He focused his energy on his center and in a white flash, his body began to slowly morph into the Fullmetal Pipsqueak. Ever since he had become this weird half-human thing, his transformations would take _forever _to complete. "Whatever."

"Well someone's a little cranky," She quipped, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. He grunted in response, irritated at her presence. "What, you naked under there?" She continued teasingly. Envy rolled his eyes, unknown to her and remained silent.

"Get out, I need to change." He finally spoke, in Ed's voice. "Oh, so you _are_ naked!" She said tauntingly.

"Get OUT, Goddamn it!"

"Say it nicely, you idiot." Winry's eyes started to narrow, folding her arms in front of her chest expectantly.

He bit down a growl at being insulted. No one called him names and got away with it. Then again, there was nothing he could do at the moment since he didn't think Ed was the kind to hit women. If that runt had it in him, Envy would be currently beating her ass. "Get out, _please_?" He tried, fighting the urge to rip her head off.

By the looks of it, she was satisfied with his response (though he could still hear her huff as she walked away), as her light footsteps were heard leaving the room, closing the door.

He sighed loudly in relief. "Finally." The duvet was thrown once again carelessly to the floor and Envy strode to the full-body mirror. Any time he made a transformation, he always double checked himself in case he was missing any trademark traits of the person he was impersonating. Yellow hair, golden eyes, braid...yep it seemed he had covered everything. Now, there was something nagging in his mind.

When was Alphonse going to return? How long was he going to keep this act up?

He wasn't sure how much more he could take it before breaking every single bone in her pretty body. Already, he had almost snapped like six separate times, and it has only been two days! He had to manage his anger, at least long enough for the tin-can to arrive and kill them both wearing Edward's face like he had planned. He didn't give a shit of what Truth said, he needed to get his revenge. He already couldn't wait to spill their thick warm blood freely, all over the walls and floor.

He knew that doing this would result in a completely destroyed Edward, a punishment worse than death for that stupid bastard. That's what he gets for spewing his deepest darkest secret in the air! He already wanted to kill the mechanic, she was _really _fucking annoying, but he wanted Alphonse to witness the brutal murder of his childhood friend. He still didn't know how he would do it, but he also planned for the ex-alchemist to walk right through the door as Envy murdered his only brother.

He loved to kill, but he absolutely ADORED killing with an audience.

Truth's words suddenly rang in his head. _"Show your repent to humanity...They need to forgive you as well." _He snickered. Well, killing off three people wasn't exactly showing any type of remorse. He'll probably have his punishment later, but he didn't care.

It was still too early to put his plan in motion, so he would have to start at least try and be nice to the girl. Envy's thin smooth lips curled in a smirk. "Maybe I can outdo myself and be more than nice. " His grin grew wider.

"Maybe I'll have a little fun while I'm at it."

..

"Gosh, I swear Ed can be such a bipolar freak sometimes." Winry muttered as she made her way to the kitchen. "I just wanted to know what he wanted to eat. Stupid jerk."

She couldn't help but wonder if he was okay. Like okay, as in NOT INSANE.

His mood swings were starting to burn her out. In the morning, he was all touchy-feely with her and invading her personal space then in the afternoon he's looking at her like if he wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole. Winry pulled her blonde hair in exasperation and shook her head, not wanting to get angry and sat in the wooden chair looking outside of her window.

The sun was currently setting, and there was a slight chill in the air. She was now sure that something was definitely wrong. _Two days, and she's still gone. I have to go look for her! It doesn't matter that I'm still pissed off at Ed, we need to search for my granny._The metal footstep was heard down the stairs. He was coming down, fully clothed. The expression in his face was a sour one, but the minute his eyes locked with her cerulean ones, he gave a kind smile. Instantly her anger was already dissolving and she involuntarily gave a heartfelt smile back.

_Why are you so weak? You need stronger resolve you spineless-_

"Winry." He breathed her name almost in a whisper, sensually. His amber orbs were fathomless, with so much emotions whirling around, it reminded her of a sparkling crystal ball.

"Sorry for screaming at you," His expression turned to one of guilt and his eyes were now directed to the floor, but his voice was still as smooth as velvet. "I was just initially embarrassed that you would see me without anything on so I snapped. "

"Oh, it's okay Edward, you know it was rude of my part for not knocking anyway," The blonde began speaking in a soft voice, anger completely gone.

_She's such an idiot! Are all human females like this? It's actually astonishing of how stupid they are. _Envy couldn't help but think and he internally smirked at her love-struck face. Hook, line and sinker. Well, because of his past, he could be the King of all professional actors in the world, the poor girl really didn't stand a chance against someone who could impersonate everything and everyone if he felt like it. He noticed she was slowly getting closer, trying to make the space between them shrink. Obviously, he wanted to step back but he knew that it would just make her cry or get mad or something along those emotions so he stayed put. Meanwhile the girl's mind was in a frenzy, heart beating erratically.

_This is good, nothing too forward._

Winry wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest, subconsciously hiding her blushing face. Envy tried his best not to push her away. "Edo...Granny's missing. We need to find her." Unknown to her, the boy had pursed his lips, once again his expression turning sour. He had to think fast.

"Oh Granny? I saw her right as I was on my way over."

Winry's head whipped up immediately to his golden eyes, surprised. "Really? And she didn't tell you anything? Did she see you? So you know where she is-"

"I asked her where she was going," He interrupted her. " She told me that she had to go to..."

_Central? No that flaming bastard's there, she could call him and ask to investigate the whereabouts of the old bitch. Rush valley! No,no bad idea both of them are obsessed with automail, she probably has contacts over there that she can reach and ask._

_Shit shit SHIT!_

"Woohoo, Ed anyone there?!" She knocked at his head, which promptly made him give a low growl deep in his throat.

_Fuck, uhhh...Liore? Dublith?_

"Edward!"

"X-Xing!" He finally choked out. Winry looked at him completely befuddled. "What? Why?"

"Uh-uh, Granny had to make an emergency trip over there for Lan Fan's automail, it broke so she headed for Gre-errr Ling's palace, she didn't have any time to tell you, she told me to tell you that and she'll be back in three weeks but I didn't remember until now.." He finally took a deep breath after talking so rapidly, and was more than a little surprised that everything he said actually made SENSE!

_Oh my God, I am so fucking fantastic. I should win an award for lying!_

"Oh. wow. Well, you should have told me that sooner. " Winry pondered. " I was worrying sick about her these past few days!"

"Yeah, sorry I guess I forgot."

"Wait, you said she was going to Ling's palace right? That means I can call over there and ask her how she's doing!" She spoke excitedly, already jumping for the phone.

_Damn it all!_

"NO!" He screamed at her a little too loudly, frightening her. " Uh, I mean, Win, she's probably still on her way over there. Remember there's a big desert to cross."

The blonde stopped in her tracks, thinking about his statement, her eyebrows furrowing. "Yeah. You're right." She turned around to retreat her steps, but she miscalculated the distance that she was from the wooden table and accidentally toppled over the telephone on the surface, and broke the smooth metallic devices into a million pieces. Winry gasped. She knelt down to pick up the metal shards of the broken telephone, muttering to herself at her clumsiness. Now she would have to take her own time to fix it. "This is gonna take forever to-" Envy's fake yellow eyes gleamed at the opportunity to show her that he really _could _do alchemy.

His arms immediately shooed her away, announcing to her loudly. "I got this, Win!"

She just looked at him strangely, as she had no idea what he was about to do. "Ed, what are you..." He clapped her hands loudly and pressed his palms to the wooden floor beneath the ruined phone and to the girl's surprised, blue lightning erupted from his skin and the ground. Seconds later the phone lay there, looking brand new. Unscathed. Winry was astonished. Meanwhile, Edward had a proud look on his face, hands pressed to his hips in an arrogant form. "Looks nice, right?" He looked at her expecting a happy Winry, grinning. The smile on his lips immediately faded when he saw her expression. It was definitely not even remotely happy.

In fact, if Envy knew any better, he could have said she had a shocked or dread-filled look on her face. The look was gone in a split second, however, and she beamed at him warmly. "Thanks, Ed. I had forgotten you could do that."

His smile was back again. "No problem, babe."

Her eyes, for some strange reason seemed to hold a short-lived blue rage. Again, it was immediately gone before he could even question it. She then walked up to him, a air of confidence that wasn't there before, and pushed her small dainty hands into his muscular chest. This startled Envy and didn't know what to think of it, so he just let her strength push him into a nearby wall until his back pressed was against it.

_What the hell is she doing?_

The girl suddenly slammed her hands to the wall, startling him in the process, and caged him with her arms. Though, he could definitely escape from her easily, the shock of it all made him cement there in place. Winry's eyes looked downright malicious. If it was another situation, Envy would have been proud at the malice contained in those cerulean orbs. She once again got closer, and he subconsciously pressed himself flat on the wall as a form to get away from her.

She was close enough that he felt his breath was actually being shared with her. He could actually feel her warmth, and found himself getting uncomfortable. In a very much similar way that Envy had done in the morning, her lips touched the outward skin of his earlobe slightly. Without him noticing, he held his breath, not sure of what she was going to do. Bite him? Attack him?

Kiss him?

"I am glad that you regained the ability to transmutate, _Edward._" Was there a hint of a sneer in her voice? With no other word said, she walked off, leaving a very dumbfounded and angry Envy in her wake.

".._SHIT_."

.

* * *

_*I'm a bad bitch no muzzle, let's go!_  
_ Music...makes me...high.*_


	10. Mission Accomplished

I recently lost this chapter in an accidental very unfortunate click of a button, and I tried everything to do to make restore it back, but alas it failed :C Well, I rewrote the chapter to the best of my abilities but the chapter will be more than likely changed in many ways.

_*Would you mind if I killed you? Would you mind If I tried to?  
__'cuz you have turned into my worst enemy. You carry the hate that I feel.*_

* * *

.

.

Nine months, three weeks, and four days.

That is _exactly_ how long he has been looking for her in vain.

He took the earliest train on the way to Novosibirsk, the largest city of Drachma therefore the heart of the country, and spend an entire month searching for her extensively. After that, he resided in Polevskoy, a well-known town made for commerce and trade, but did not have any luck finding even a small trace of her. After leaving a dozen cities ransacked with his searching, he was now on his way to the one of the most desolate places in Drachma, a village-like town by the name of Saratov. As he shivered relentlessly against the biting cool, he couldn't help but feel angry at himself for doing this. Here he was, like a stupid IDIOT, trying to find someone who might not even be alive! All he wanted to do was high-tail out of there, return to Amestris, and move on with his life. And why not?! After the 175 years of self-loathing and depression, he deserved to be happy too.

As a particularly large snowflake hit him square in the face, he noted to himself he _couldn't _just leave Drachma yet. Also, he knew if he left for Amestris, it wouldn't be to get 'on with his life'. He would still keep on searching for HER! The thought infuriated him to no end, and he sputtered out angrily at the snow which managed to get in his mouth. Since when did he become so imbecile-like, moronically, _idiotically _HUMAN?

_Sure, whatever, I'm half human. That doesn't mean I have to ACT like such! I am shaming my homunculi brethren. If Lust even IS alive, she'd probably skewer me for trying to find her. _Envy thought crossly to himself, as he rubbed his frozen-stiff fingers against each other in order to create some sort of friction-generated heat. After finding the act useless, he resorted to shoving his hands to the pockets of his black leather motorcycle jacket and also buried his face into the the fur lining of his collar in order to keep the stinging wind from his nose. Because of this troublesome human situation, he found out the hard way he couldn't keep prancing about with his normal skimpy outfit in the iceberg of Drachma. So for the first time in his existence, Envy had actually dressed according to the weather.

The black skin-tight crop top had been modified to a long-sleeved muscle shirt which still had the quality of appearing painted on, much to the half-homunculus's pleasure (_still awesomely sexy_, he had assured himself) and the skort had been done away with completely. The replacement _used _to be leather pants, but after noticing he was starting to have a similar fashion sense as the Fullmetal Pipsqueak, he done away with it as well and resorted to using dark-wash jeans (obviously using a thermal lining underneath it). He really didn't want to, but he also wrapped a fleece scarf around his neck, as the turtleneck did not suffice to warm him enough. He also wore a woolen beanie hat, since he couldn't stand the coldness in his ears. To top it all off, he used combat-style boots.

Since he was wearing everything black and with his skin so marble-white, he probably looked like Death on a stroll, but he couldn't give a shit. At least he didn't feel like a Popscicle. Man, what was he thinking about initially? Oh right. His blood began boiling when an irritating question sprouted in his mind and he did not not know how to answer it.

_Why can't I forget about her?_

He let out a characteristic growl, having the impulse urge to kick or punch something. He shut his eyes briefly as he trudged through the thick snow as a small voice spoke from a deep and dark place in his mind. A voice that started to speak after he came back from the gateway of Truth, and now more than ever, wouldn't EVER shut the hell up.

_Because you can't. She's too important to let go._

_What? That's not true! We were barely considered friends!_

The half-homunculus thought the truth, as he knew very well the most Lust and him had ever been were acquaintances with the same goal...and tolerated each other because of it. Sure, she was the only person he actually had pleasant conversation on a regular basis, and he did get sort of mad (okay well now that he remembered, he was really fucking pissed) when he found out she was burned to death by that flaming bastard, but still!

_Your tie to her might be non-existent to everyone in the world, but for you, it's the single most important one in your entire lifetime._

This definitely made Envy stop dead in his tracks in surprise. He thought quickly of all of the other people that he was present with a large amount of time, and felt nothing but irritation (Pride, Sloth,Wrath) and sometimes disgust (Greed, Gluttony). He never even thought of ANY type of relationship with any of them. And really, who else was there? He knew many, many people and he could safely say all of them hated his fucking guts and most of them would kill him within a heartbeat. Not exactly a very positive interaction if he said so himself. Still, he wasn't about to admit anything that dumb voice in his head was saying!

_Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about, she's just a annoying old hag-_

_It's funny how you're trying to lie to your OWN sub-conscious._

"Argh,"He pulled a couple of strands of his hair in frustration, already done with fighting with the voice in his head, and stepped unknowingly into asphalt. "Ah?" Without noticing, he was already at the edge of a wide highway. This meant he was close to the town. Sheesh, it was about damn time. The snow only seemed to get thicker in the upcoming blizzard, making him practically blind to his surroundings. What was that over there? It seemed like a pair two bright but at the same time fuzzy lights nearing closer with a vengeance. He squinted, in order to futilely guess what was coming to his proximity.

_It seems like a pair of headlights, or something...oh shit!-_

The deafening roar of the gigantic truck's engine and the loud minute-long honk bombarded his ears immediately, and the impact of velocity was so high, it literally swept him of his feet, making him topple to the edge of the asphalt highway and covering him with falling snow. His green hair splayed out completely in the ground, so he felt a slightly painful and terrifying feeling of the mammoth truck's heavy duty wheels running over his long hair viciously. He was very literally so damn close to the vehicle that he could actually feel the heat from the engine on his head. After the eight pairs of trucker wheels finished their massacre with his hair, his eyes didn't feel like they were about to pop out of their sockets. "PFFF!" He spit out a wad of dirty melting snow that had fallen into his mouth and struggled to mantain his heart from bursting out of his chest.

God, that was horrible. The pure adrenaline, and _fear _that coursed through his veins, and the pace his heart beat at was so high, he was kind of surprised it didn't explode. Envy shuddered at the near-death experience once, and picked himself up, anger replacing his initial fear. With his fists closed up tightly, he roared at the growing distant truck.

"Вы мудак!идти _ебать_ себя, гребаный **ублюдок**!" He screamed at the top of his lungs at the truck driver.

Sure, he hadn't been in Drachma for almost a century, and he was a bit rusty, but one thing he did know for sure is to curse in Drachmian and _fluently_. It seemed like the driver heard him as he slightly turned around and flipped the half-homonculus off with a very thick middle finger. In his impulsive rage, the sin formed a medium-sized snowball in his heads to throw at the speeding truck with all his strength. Granted, the action was pretty useless and a _bit_ pathetic but hey, it managed to make his anger simmer down.

If he was close enough for vehicles to be passing by, then he was bound to run into some residential places, or some SIGN of civilization. Then, he could see it. The cluster of small cabin-like houses about half a mile away southeast, and then if he narrowed his eyes far enough, he could see another cluster or neighborhood, about two miles to northwest. Saratov to his eyes, couldn't even be called a small town, as it was more like a deserted village. Soon enough, the ground grew firmer and he felt cement instead of just snow.

Now, people were walking past him and the sidewalk to the other side. A woman pushing a stroller, with a smile on her face, humming a cheery tune. A couple walking besides each other, giggling into their lovesick eyes. They were obviously new in the relationship. Everyone was happy, not having a care in the world. Damn those humans, seeing them made him get a sour taste in his tongue. Well, he wasn't here to stare at them murderously, no he was here to search for someone.

"Excuse me," He spoke in clipped Drachmian to a near passerby. She initially looked a bit startled, but smiled warmly at him like a close friend, which he found weird since she didn't even _know _him. "Yes?" She responded back to him in the same language, her eyes crinkling in friendliness. He took a second to quickly glance at her. Small woman with petite little hips, soft-looking curly brown hair, a pretty face and expressive eyes. She looked like a nice girl. He instantly hated her.

"I'm looking for a woman named Solaris. Do you know anything of her?" If he knew her like he thought he did, Lust was probably going by her undercover name. The stranger put a pensive finger to her lips, as if recalling the name from somewhere. For a split second, he felt a bit of hope flutter in his heart. Then she shook her head, shattering that hope in an instant. "Sorry, I don't recall..." He let out a sound that sounded like a combination of a grunt and soft growl. In frustration, he shook his head and briskly walked away from the woman, who grew more startled at the strange man's behavior.

Meanwhile, Envy was contemplating his next move. He was hoping that just by showing up here, some weird act of destiny would somehow magically know where his ...am...companion was. Well, time to start knocking on doors like the desperate motherfucker he really was.

Now here he was, knocking on the fifteenth door already, expecting said person to not know who in the hell he was talking about and wish him luck finding her. There was a big difference concerning this house with all of the others. For one thing, it was gigantic, and it could be compared to an elegant castle. Another key distinction is the fact the residence was clearly constructed by stone bricks while the rest of the houses were build with wood and plaster. Overall, the place looked pretty impressive and it seemed only people of royal status could even afford this type of living. Nevertheless, he knocked once again about twenty seconds after his initial one, already growing a bit irritated.

This time an entire minute passed by, and he gave a furious impatient knock that threaten to knock down the heavy-set mahogany door from its hinges. After waiting for no more than ten seconds, he huffed to himself.

"Screw it." Already halfway down to the steps, he suddenly heard a latch unlock and the loud creak of the same door opening slowly. He stopped in his tracks immediately.

Warmth seeped out of the house, reaching his half-frozen ears and back.

"Yes?" The low sultry voice he had ingrained in his memory for almost two centuries spoke clearly, shattering the silence. He stiffened in shock, eyes widening to extraordinary proportions. It couldn't be...Maybe someone with a similar voice? The only way to find out is look at the woman directly in the face. He whipped his head quickly, making dark strands of hair slap his face lightly, his eyes growing even wider. As he barely turned, the woman spoke again.

"How can I help-" Her beautiful crimson eyes widened just like his were. She staggered back into the solace of her home, not believing her sight. Envy almost choked on his breath as his eyes traveled down her figure. There was no mistaking the curvy silhouette, the wavy raven hair, and luscious red lips. Like he analyzed her in surprise, she did the same thing. His dark violet eyes. muscular body, and his trademark evergreen long hair. Yep, there was no denying it.

_It's you._

Both thought at the same time.

Silence once again enveloped the two, unable to say anything at the moment in their own stupor. As violet eyes bore into blood red ones, she finally got the courage to speak. "E-Envy?" Her voice came out much shakier than she planned to and she immediately winced at the weak tone. As her words broke the spell the green-haired sin was temporarily in, he slowly walked up the steps again, with each second growing closer to his person.

"I can't believe it." He manage to say, a slight shimmer in his eyes that immediately entranced her. He grew closer still. "After all this time looking, and it actually paid off.." Envy gave a small stunned chuckle, hand involuntarily reaching out to his long locks in a disgustingly-nervous human way. _What are you doing, idiot? Stop this behavior, right now. Do you not have ANY dignity? _The busty sin in front of him could only stare at him curiously, fascinated by his uncharacteristic fidgeting. Now he was so close to her, they were seeing eye to eye, almost sharing breath.

It grew warmer still.

His mouth opened once again without his knowledge, and he immediately knew he shut clamp it shut but it seemed like it had a mind of its own.

"I thought I would never see you again, but it seems fate brought us together again." Envy's eyes seemed to glitter with each word that he said, and she felt her hands trembling.

"...Lust."

* * *

For me, Drachma = Russia. Yeah, dunno why. Envy's phrase (Google translate): _You asshole! Go fuck yourself, you fucking bastard!_

_*It's so magical, we be so fantastical!  
Leather and jeans, garage glamourous.  
_

_Not sure what it means,  
but this photo of us don't have a price*_


	11. Realization

_*Between the sets, eyeliner and cigarettes._  
_Shadows is burnt, my lashes are dry, purple teardrops I cry*_

* * *

.

She slammed the door to her room, fuming with rage.

Baby-blue eyes darkened considerably, containing a dangerous steel glint. She kept walking stiffly until reaching her bed, a less than pleasant expression marring her usually cheerful face. A low growl tore itself from her throat, as her hands itched for her trusty wrench. In an instant, she found it lying peacefully on the mahogany surface of her engraved drawer. Winry Rockbell, renowned automail mechanic and hailed doctor, had been tricked.

Horribly deceived.

The person who she was currently sharing her house with was definitely _not _Edward Elric. He looked like him, spoke like him, he copied everything about him from the antennae on his head to his short explosive temper. Quite a great actor, really. But there was something off about this character. She couldn't exactly pinpoint what is was, only small observations that did not constitute solid evidence of her suspicion. She saw his face, and an alarm of apprehension rang in the back of her head.

His molten gold eyes were too cold and harsh.

His smile had a disturbing hint of a sneer that never was present before...and he could transmutate again. Edward told her a long time ago he was never going to be able to perform alchemy again.

"_Dammit!_" She threw her wrench at the already dented wall opposite her bed with all of her strength, adding another contusion to the bruised plasterboard. The tool clattered loudly on the wooden floor. "How could I've been so _stupid_?" Winry whispered to herself, fists tightening and nails digging in her palms, drawing blood. A stranger invaded her home, and she just let him. She did NOTHING. How the hell was she supposed to guess that there was a weird thing, that could snatch the bodies of others? Obviously, he was not human, he was a face stealer.

Who the hell was this guy? Was he even a HE?!

Could it be one of Ed's former adversaries? Duh, of course they were! Obviously, this person had a hidden agenda for Edward, and was using her as a pawn in its wicked game, probably to get some leverage. She fleetingly remembered Ed telling her about all the abundance in enemies he made through out his journey. Some ended up being allies, like Scar. But the others...they were evil people who planned from the beginning to make Amestris a country-wide transmutation circle.

The homunculi. They all had unique supernatural abilities, they could self-regenerate immediately, and were immortal. How many were there again?

_Seven. Yes, it was seven. After the Deadly Sins._

From all of the homunculi, only one of them was a woman. Her name was Lust who could...make her nails grow? Something called the Ultimate Spear? Obviously Lust could not be the culprit in this situation. As far as Winry knew, they only received one ability each. Neither could it be the little boy Selim, or Pride, since he had an ability to control shadows. The big hunk of meat that was Sloth couldn't possibly be it, neither Greedling for his Ultimate Shield or the Fuhrer for his Ultimate Eye. Gluttony as Ed eloquently described to her was a "useless fat ass" and ate everything, so definite no.

_Lust, __Gluttony, Wrath, Sloth, Pride, Greed-_

She counted off the six in her head. _Hm. Who am I missing?_

Then it clicked.

Winry pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to suppress the horrified gasp. He was the only homunculus that could shape-shift. The one who shot an innocent Ishvalan child in cold-blooded murder, causing the Civil war that indirectly killed her parents. The one who also shot Maes Hughes, one of the greatest soldiers that this military ever had. The one who not only regretted anything for his horrible crimes, but _relished _them. The one who could not receive forgiveness, not even from God himself. The cruelest and most depraved of them all.

Envy.

"Oh my God." Her limbs started to shake in pure fear. She was not only residing with a homunculus, but the worst of the worst: the most egotistic, _psychopathic_, conniving murderer of the entire world. He actually _enjoyed_ to see humans_ suffer_. Winry doubted that she was an exception to his favorite past-time, and was waiting any day now to pounce. He probably had a horrible evil plan.

A plan that had something to do with her. She was too afraid to dwell on the possibilities that this could ensue. But _why _her?! Could this be revenge for the failed country transmutation plan? Wait just a damn minute.

_Homunculi can't perfom alchemy, can't they? I am almost positive Ed told me that they did not have this ability! So how could this Envy person-? He- He just clapped his hands together and fixed the phone, no problem! Just how Ed and Al used to do it!_

Winry bit on her lips anxiously, trying to make sense of the display that this so-called "Edward" performed. How was it possible? Suddenly all of her worrisome questions came to a screeching halt.

Weren't all of them _dead__?_

Winry only vaguely knew of the deaths of the six other homunculi (well Pride was the only one that survived, but merely as a fetus with no recollection of his memories) but the one that she knew with exact details was of Envy's, courtesy of Edward's story-telling. Why Edward only told her about that certain one _specifically_, she would never know. He committed suicide after Edward discovered his jealousy. In front of everyone, destroying his life essence, his philosopher's stone. There were enough eye-witnesses to confirm this. So how the hell is that evil parasite in her house right now, impersonating the love of her life?

Was it even _him_?_  
_

Everything seemed to point out it wasn't. First of all, the homunculus was supposed to be dead. Someone just can't come back from the dead! The law Ed keeps on reciting says this! Second, even if he was alive, they cannot use alchemy. Winry began to realize how unbelievably _stupid _her thoughts were turning to and she started laughing. Chuckling, really at the audacity of her crazy-ass theories. Of course, it couldn't be him. He was long gone and dead! Edward was just acting a bit strangely, no surprise there.

Regarding his alchemy, he probably found a method of regaining his ability somewhere in his journey to Creta. She heard that their alchemy was incredibly advanced so she could figure that they found a solution for his problem. Yes, that was it!_ Not a psychotic killer that wants you for his sick, twisted plan. _There was just no possibly way it could even be him. Winry had an amused smile on her lips, shaking her head. "Man, I have a really overactive imagination..."

She now felt a bit idiotic for being suspicious of Ed like and even embarrassed at her behavior. "He must think I'm a loony. I'd better go apologize to him before he runs away or something ." Now Winry gave a relieved sigh, and left the room a lot more at ease than when she barely came in. She slowly headed to the stairs in hopes of finding him in the living room or kitchen.

. .

"_F__uck, fuck, fuck,"_ Envy cursed under his breath, feet practically burning into the wood after his incessant pacing.

He pulled at his now forest-green hair desperately, and in in his frustration, almost ripped the black headband off his forehead. No longer being recognized as the pipsqueak, he found it a bit useless to keep parading on in that fake tan skin that Edward had and changed back to his original form. His violet eyes blinked rapidly as if trying to think of a solution that would come to him from the sky, but none came. Envy cursed one last time, actually ripping out some strands of hair in the process.

He messed up. Big time.

The mechanic actually found out because, like always, he was too _damn _careless and didn't prepare enough! If only he knew that Ed didn't have the ability to transmutate, he never would have gloated in front of her. If only he had done his research before hand. And now, his meticulous plan was completely ruined! He would not be able to kill Winry and the former Tin-can wearing the chibi-san's face, it will take the fun all out of it!

He should kill her now, before it got too late!

"_Hey, Ed! I'm sorry for reacting-_," Winry's distant voice filled his eardrums in a millisecond. His eyebrows rose up. Had she not found out? He could see her slender form making her way down the stairs.

Envy could easily do this, he just had to shape-shift into Edward. As his hair painstakingly changed color from a dark jade to blonde, and as the the skort grew long with a tedious pace until it resembled leather pants , he was reminded of the worst possible time that he no longer could change in the blink of an eye. Almost done...the golden hair was being raveling itself into a tightly wound braid. His once-bare feet were now enveloped in the thick soles of black combat-boots.

"_-the way I did, I just_ was being really paranoid-" The blonde girl did not finish her phrase. She stood in front of him, expression strangely blank, looking at his right arm in confusion.

He had completed his transformation, in the nick of time. Right before she saw any of it, he was sure of it! _Barely got my ass saved there_, Envy sighed in his mind trying to suppress a small victory smirk.

Then he opened deep sinister-like violet eyes, looking directly into the sapphire jewels that were Winry's and realized something was terribly wrong. Her mouth was open in a perfect O shape, her eyes were widened to extraordinary proportions, terror etched into every single line in her face.

Envy blinked.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He changed his voice to sound like Edwards, and forced his eyebrows to furrow in fake concern. She still had the same stupid expression on her face, not a word coming out of her gaping mouth. What did he do wrong? He did _everything_, the hair, the clothes, the eyes... wait, he doesn't remember changing that. He couldn't have forgotten, could he?

Shit. He closed his lids, sighing. His eyes. He forgot the fucking eyes.

Both of them stared at each other. Silent and immobile for what felt like centuries. Winry knew exactly who he was now. There was no reason to pretend to be someone else. He saw that she was slowly backing away, her hand going to her was planning an escape, she was waiting for the exact moment to high-tail out of there.

_Well, she's in for a surprise._

After they broke eye-contact, chaos ensued.

**WHACK!**

"_FUCK_!" The half-homunculus cradled the bleeding gash coming directly from his head, staining the straw-like hair that wasn't his. " You BITCH!"

Winry dropped the wrench in her fright, and took off immediately in the opposite direction, trying to get as much distance as possible between them. Of course, Envy would not let that happen. An enraged snarl escaped his lips, and his right hand flew towards her wrist, pulling her harshly to his body.

"NO!" She shrieked as she was slammed face-first into the flat planes of his chest. Then he noticed something else. His arm was in automail. Once again, he closed his eyes briefly, cursing his stupidity. Edward Elric did not have an automail arm anymore. Add that with a pair of cold violet eyes, it's no wonder that she caught on so quickly.

His other arm followed, wrapping itself tightly around her shapely hips. "And where do you think _you're _going?" The Edward look-alike sneered at the shaking girl in his death grip. He could no longer see her face, but she knew she was becoming agitated. With anger or panic.. maybe a combination of both? He didn't know or care. "LET ME GO!" With all of her strength, she began a full brutal attack on him. Her punches were almost all easily blocked, but one or two managed to hit him in his shoulder or cheek. More than once, she tried to knee him in the crotch area but of course, that was not very effective. He could easily make his manhood disappear, soon enough that he wouldn't have to experience the crippling pain.

"Ouch, was that supposed to hurt?" Envy taunted her, arms still holding her waist. He suddenly flipped her around, too quickly for her to do anything about it, so her back was facing him and he could control her movement with more ease. This only served to anger her more as her pushes and kicks became more violent.

"DAMN YOU! PIECE OF SHIT!" She screamed, swinging a few right hooks aimed directly at his face. Envy swerved out of her punches, a little shocked at the accuracy and the power that each fist contained. He had underestimated her strength. Well then... He chuckled, amused at her fiery temper. Being with her for the past two days made him notice immediately that she was a woman to be reckoned with. Definitely not someone you could easily push around.

Envy growled playfully at her, a smirk on his lips. He liked a challenge, especially such ones coming from her. Always made his games more fun! Winry immediately stopped her fighting to look at him with a disgusted look washing over her features.

_Oh god, he actually finds this a turn-on! SICK!_

"Although your pathetic little attempts to escape are amusing, this game is now over." With that said, Envy released her waist to swiftly slap her across her face. So brutally in fact, that blood spurted from her full lips. Winry's body toppled to the ground on the impact, hitting the floor with a sickening _thud_. He flexed his hand arrogantly, proud of himself. While he did not have the strength he used to have when he was like a thousand pounds, he was still far more stronger than most humans.

For a moment however, the proud look in his eyes disappeared and his irises grew almost black. He grimaced, feeling a searing pain on his left cheek. It burned horribly, and he hissed at the sensation looking at the girl like if it was all her fault. What the FUCK was that? The minute he slapped the girl, he felt the pain boomerang to the exact same place! This wasn't also a second chance...as Truth said. It was also punishment. This was his penalty then? Feeling the afflictions others felt when he provoked the,?

After the pain subsided, Envy did not waste time reaching to her crumpled figure on the floor, gripping her wrist once again, claw-like fingernails sharp enough to actually dig into her flesh and make her bleed. She whimpered and cried out in pain, the bright red blood started to coat her arm like a river. He bit his lip, also experiencing the awful sting of invisible claws on his arm and forced himself to keep a grin on his face. She turned her head back so her blonde hair covered her agonizing face. This was so devastating, not only to her body, but to her psyche as well. To hear Ed's voice sound so evil was worse than any nightmare she'd ever experience. Seeing the automail arm that she created- _no, you didn't create that, the monster copied it-_hit her with so much force, it threatened to burn her emotions and soul out. She knew it wasn't him, it could NEVER be him, but...

_How can you hit me like this, Edward?_

"Look at me." He crouched down to her. Winry started to sob heavily. The shudders of her body were delicious, and Envy found himself biting his lip in order to control making those shudders become spasms of torture. All in good time. "Don't make me repeat myself," He called out in a sing-song voice, which caused the right response. She slowly raised her face to look into blankly into his chest. He growled once again at her slowness. Gripping her chin harshly, he forced the girl to look at him directly in his eyes.

The golden hair started to grow out in thin long spikes, and the color darkened to an almost black-green color. His teeth grew sharper, almost like fangs, and his eyes grew more angular. If possible, the plum color of his orbs grew darker and colder. The clothes that the former alchemist would normally wear converted to his skimpy outfit, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Her blue eyes widened even more in terror, and Envy smirked widely. He loved that. He loved that primal _fear_ that all humans had for him, when they realized exactly who they were messing with. He took pleasure in their pitiful faces, begging for mercy. Everything about it sent chills down his spine. Maybe his initial plan was a given failure, but he could still have his fun. This human was so delectable, he would enjoy her suffering ten-fold.

After all, all pretty girls-especially a gem like her- had the knack of even _dying _of making it a wonderful show. Oh, he would make her beg. He would make her scream.

"Do you know my name, Blondie?"

She stayed silent for a while, and then directed her line of sight to the the floor once again. Winry gritted out a response through her teeth.

"_Envy._"

He laughed, his claws digging into her flesh even more. "Good. Then, you know me well enough to know that you do not mess with me, isn't that right?" The weight of her body made her legs numb since she was sitting on top of them, and the palms of her hands started to sting because of the pressure she put on them being on the wooden floor. Envy retracted the claws from her wrist and began to straighten his knees so he could stand straight, but he heard her say something. Something that was like a whisper, he almost didn't catch it. "_Do you know my name, Envy?_"

He tilted his head to the right, a little puzzled at her question. "Yes."

The girl pushed herself up suddenly, taking him a bit by surprise, since he was still kneeling. Now, she was the one looking down at him, her knuckles white from her fists tightening. Her azure orbs no longer contained fear, but a blind fury. "Good. Then you know me well enough to not call me 'blondie' or 'bitch'_, isn't that right_?" Envy rose his eyebrows with surprise.

The girl...was _mocking _him.

Tsk, she needed to be punished for such rebellious behavior. His thin lips curled into a sadistic grin, making her determination falter just a bit. The fear returned into her huge child-like eyes.

_Oh poor, stupid Winry. You really are something else..._

_I can't wait to break you.__  
_

_._

* * *

_*If I stay, it won't be long, until I'm burning on the inside._  
_ If I go, I can only hope, that I'll make it to the other side.*_


	12. Love and Lust

_*hola que tal, soy el chico de las poesias. _  
_Tu fiel admirador, y aunque no me conosieras...*_

-Rated Strong **M**-

* * *

The living room of her mansion was spacious and richly decorated.

In fact, now that he analyzed all of the surroundings, he came to the conclusion that she had a knack of interior design. The camel-colored leather sofas had a luxurious quality to them, and the maroon-colored walls radiated a warm tone through the residency. Crackling flames warmed his frozen-stiff toes from the roaring fireplace a few feet from his direction. Cultured paintings and exquisitely-embossed mirrors hung from the smooth walls, and lavish foreign rugs covered the sleek wooden board with style. The furniture was all matching, of course, with a small dark wooden coffee table between the off-white sofas and a stool fashioned as an mahogany drawer to the left side of each sofa. On the ceiling, a large lit crystal chandelier hung, a sight that would mesmerize anyone with the large topazes that sparkled wonderfully.

All heavy-set silk curtains were closed over the large windows that she had in the living room as well as her equally enchanting kitchen. Frankly, he did not find it surprising. Knowing her so well, he knew she probably wanted to keep prying eyes off her property or anything remotely related to her. There was one thing Lust cherished and that was her privacy.

The minute Envy had stepped into her house, he had been astonished at the luxury of it. All of this space for just _one _person? It seemed kind of ridiculous. He had looked at her with suspicious eyes when a thought entered his mind. He started to remove the scarf, mittens, and beanie slowly, feeling that the warmth that enveloped the house become a little stifling with all his winter gear on.

"Let me take your coat." She said, almost in a gentle voice. He raised his eyebrows at her, but nevertheless, let her take his personal belongings-probably to some closet. He never would have guessed that she would be such a gracious host. Then again, Lust was always the classiest of the homunculi, chastising Gluttony for not 'wiping his mouth' after finishing up devouring his human meal or making the homunculi follow trivial etiquette that he never really paid much attention to. Both of them were strangely quiet when she motioned for him to sit down on the comfy couch, and she quickly ushered to the kitchen.

It was so strange. Seeing her again made his whole being fill up with a sense of accomplishment. He had one sole mission to find her, which he did. Then again, it also made him feel nostalgic. It made him remember the times from before, from where both of them were in completely different mind-sets, and were following a supposed perfect plan. His pensive thoughts were interrupted as he heard some clanking noise come from the kitchen area. What in the world was she doing in there?

"Do you want bread with your hot chocolate? God knows how long you've been outside in that freezing cold." She called out, playing the role of housewife perfectly, probably without even noticing.

His eyes widened as her words. _Hot chocolate? What?_

Why was Lust making him food like if she _cared _about him?

This wasn't normal behavior for her! He had to make sure some of his sanity was kept, by keeping the old memory of how Lust always was. He had to try and regain even the slightest bit of normalcy that both of them had in their past lives. They couldn't just suddenly be all friendly and sweet. That's not how their relationship worked! He would insult her teasingly, and she would offer a rude witty comeback that rendered him speechless just like always and make him fume about her for a couple of days.

"Who said I ever wanted hot chocolate, you old hag!" His words sounded weak and forced even to his own ears. It wasn't the same. Never had he felt so damn uncomfortable in his (ex?)sibling's presence, not even when they first met. Usually, it was the other way around. If Envy was angry, stressed or upset, seeking her company would calm his frazzled nerves, but somehow he wasn't feeling at ease. He wasn't feeling relaxed. Instead all he felt like if he was stepping on eggshells. Did she feel the same way? Did she feel the tension that permeated the atmosphere around them?

"Envy." The way his name rolled off her tongue made it perfectly clear she was annoyed, and even though she was still in the kitchen, he could tell that she was currently rolling her eyes. "Don't be proud. When have you in all of your life _ever _denied the offer of_ chocolate_?" He had no smart retort for that, since it was positively true.

His cat eyes looked up from the thick rug and saw Lust finally approaching, hands delicately grasping a silver expensive-looking tray that had two steaming cups of hot cocoa. She set the tray down gently on the coffee table in front of him, and sat down on the opposite couch of him. Though she already had her mug in her delicate pale hands, Envy still left his own cup abandoned. He was too mesmerized in Lust's appearance to even think about hot beverages. For the most part, Lust didn't change. The same dark wavy hair reaching all the way to her lower back that reminded him of a sultry pin-up girl, creamy white skin that contained no blemish, same full cherry-red lips that could make any man fall to her feet with just a coy smile.

However, something was different about her. She wasn't wearing her usual skin-tight black dress and gloves. Instead, she donned a dark-grey Drachmian _military _uniform. White fur trim and the color was the only instantly recognizable trait that separated the look from the Amestrian style. Before he could even acknowledge the fact she was now in military of the enemy of Amestris, he couldn't for the life of him figure it out how the hell she managed to make a military uniform look sexy and provocative. Maybe it was the fact her breasts were so big, it managed to pop off a few buttons of the top collar, making her cleavage look that much more alluring. Not that he was staring or anything. Maybe it was also the fact that her pants were form-fitting to her curvaceous body, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was something Lust could wear without making it look hot. Had she always looked like that before? Why was he barely noticing her too-attractive appearance now?!

A small chuckle threw him off his trance.

"See something you like?" She teased. To her great pleasure and to _his _horror, a blush began staining his cheeks.

_Great, so now I have stupid human hormones! I'm seriously starting to hate Truth now._ He thought to himself, thoroughly embarrassed and quite cross.

His only response was to grab his mug of now warm chocolate and down it in one gulp. " No." He hissed dangerously, but the blush that kept darkening indicated otherwise. Lust gave a tiny laugh, her sides of her eyelids crinkling with the smile. Unfamiliar, but it made her seem strangely more human. The tension that had been present had dissipated in an instant. Even Envy had to give a small grin.

"You want some more chocolate?"The beautiful woman started to get up, hand reaching for the empty mug. He waved her hand off, looking at her with a penetrating gaze.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Her smile immediately vanished, and she uncrossed her legs in stiff disposition. Envy kept his intense gaze on her, orbs filled with curiosity and confusion. Lust sighed wearily. "You know I tolerated you the most out of all of the rest. What do you prefer, that it was the latter?" He shook his head violently once, dark locks of strands whipping his face over and over again.

"You ain't getting off the hook that damn easy. This isn't about _toleration._ What happened to you? You're so... _unlike _Lust!"

"Keep your voice down. " She bared her perfect teeth at him. He just looked at her with a lone eyebrow raised. "And who are you to tell me how I'm supposed to act? I don't know if your noticed, but we both died and came back to life. That does not happen for no good reason, and I'm sure as hell not going to anger Truth to make It take my life away again."

Envy felt the oxygen in his lungs leave instantly. So, she experienced it exactly the way he did.

"I may have not liked it in the beginning, I may contemplated suicide a few times. But that form of thinking is just plain idiotic. Who in their sane and logical mind throw away an opportunity like this? My thoughts can't change anything about it. " Lust tugged at her white scarf that covered her neck and part of her chest. The other sin merely stayed quiet at her small speech, contemplating her words deeply. It was like she was going through everything he was going through at the moment. The disgust of being kinda-human (?), wanting to terminate her life, all of it.

"I know why you're here Envy. You think we can trick It, you think we can come up with a plan against Amestris, defeat Truth and regain our abilities...but the truth is we can't! The humans won. They destroyed our kind. We are homunculi no longer." As she said that, she heard a low growl vibrating deep from Envy's chest. She pretended not to hear it and continued.

"We cannot regenerate, we are not immortal. I no longer have my Ultimate Spear. " To demonstrate, she held out her one of her glove-less hands. The other hand was tucked in between her legs, effectively hiding it from his sight. For the first time, he actually saw her small bare hand and noticed that her nails had a feminine french tip, but nothing else. " I'm sure Truth took away your ability to shape-shift,"

"Actually," Envy interrupted her, grinning. " It didn't." The shock on her face was evident.

"What? Why the hell not?"

"I don't have all of my shape-shifting capabilities that I once had. I can't turn into animals or weapons or objects. I can only turn into other people. And I cannot turn into people that don't exist. It only has to be a person that is alive or was once alive. Nothing else."

The smile was back on her face. "Ah, so your ability was practically reduced to nothing?" He childishly stuck his pink tongue at her, crossing his arms in an indignant manner.

"Anyway, no matter what, the slow transition into becoming completely human will happen. " Immediately, this got the green-haired man's attention.

"WHAT?! You mean we're actually going to _become _human?!" She tilted her head a little, with disapproving look on her lips. "Shh. Don't be so loud. Yes, that's what I just said. That's what Truth told us!"

"No, it didn't."

"Yes, it did."

"No, it _didn't!_" He bellowed at her, getting angry enough to smash the white mug into the coffee table. Lust motioned a desperate finger to her lips, wanting for him to lower his voice, already fed up with Envy's stubbornness.

In a quick flick of her wrist, she tore the scarf away from her neck and with both of her arms, ripped more of the top of her military shirt/jacket open. Now her cleavage was more bountiful than it ever was. He instantly retracted from her in horror, arms flown up as if to protect himself from a snarling beast. The blush that had barely left his cheeks was coming back with a vengeance. "What the FUCK? All I do is disagree and you come and shove your boobs in my face! You know, doing that is not an answer to all problems!"

"Be _quiet_, you imbecile. Look into my chest." He looked at her as if she had gone mad. " I-I don't want to!"

"And for the record, if the one making the problem is a male, then yes. My method can be used to solve all problems." She added haughtily, crossing her arms over her breasts. Of course, LUST would know about that... Finally, as she commanded for him to do, Envy forced himself to turn his head to her and ever so slowly gaze into her chest. What his eyes first acknowledged was not a pleasant sight.

Her ouroubos tattoo. It couldn't actually be...

"It's _fading_." He whispered more to himself than to her, but she heard him anyways.

Sure enough, the dragon eating its own tail that was always prominent against her own pale skin was not blood red. Instead, it had a mauve quality to it, could even called a reddish pink. It was unsettling, to say the least. Envy grew near enough to invade her personal space, leaning forward to the tattoo above her collarbone. He gingerly touched it, eyes tearing away from her chest to look up at her own eyes.

Now his violet orbs contained an emotion that she didn't normally see. Fear. "Why is it fading, Lust?" He whispered again, lips slightly touching her collarbone. She gave an involuntary shudder, of the closeness that Envy and her had. He probably didn't even notice he was so close to her, he was too mesmerized in the fading mark to see what he was doing. In order to maintain a clear head and void of any emotions, she stepped back a bit, enough to give each other some space, and gave good hard look at him.

She had never really noticed how breathtaking he really was.

Those perfect expressive eyes, his dark evergreen hair that had an air of danger because of their dagger-like appearance but in reality was soft as silk, the perfect toned body that he carried, his beautiful but dangerous grin...that damn grin that even made her spine convulse into chills. Sometimes his smile even managed to frighten more than Pride ever did. It always meant that he was planning something wicked, something so heinous that even she had been shocked speechless when he would confide in her his different plans for the humans all the while laughing in glee. He liked to torture first, whether it be physically or emotionally (Contrary to popular opinion, he actually preferred psychological abuse. Go figure.) see the faces of agony before finally killing them. And before seeing the life extinguish from their eyes, before delivering the final deadly blow, he would turn into the person's loved one..

And she could see the wickedness seep out of each pore that Envy contain, like poison beneath the skin. She couldn't know how even his appearance could seem evil in by itself but it did. He didn't even had to smile to make sometimes Lust go rigid in fear. But maybe that's why she felt like this. Maybe that's why her heartbeat was accelerating when he was near and her body burned to the touch. Because she was scared. That's what it was, right?

"I already told you." Lust cleared her throat, desperate rid herself of the foreign feelings in her mind. "I'm turning human, Envy."

He suddenly pushed himself away from her, as if disgusted with her presence. "So, you're becoming imperfect. You're going to do stupid shit like work, take showers, have friendships and acquaintances..." Envy started to pace all around the living room, going in circles around the sofas. His eyes were narrowed as if enraged, the violet color darkening to an almost carbon black. All she did was observe him closely, hoping that he didn't do anything stupid.

"Do stupid shit like actually _falling in love._" His tone became absolutely venomous at the last word. She hissed at his last statement, as if just hearing the phrase physically damaged her.

He stilled for a second in front of her, noticing a strange look into her eyes and took her hand, dragging her to stand with him behind the leather couch, where the living room ended and the seemingly-never ending hallway begun. He gave one hard stare at her, analyzing her complexion with intense scrutiny. _All of this space for just one person?_ The tension was suddenly back in the air faster than ever. He broke his eye contact, exhaling sharply as if he realized something terrible. "Oh no. Not you." Envy ran a hand through his hair, as if astonished by what he found just by observing her face.

"What?" He broke away from her, walking briskly to the end of the hallway. Her stoic expression was replaced with one of apprehension.

"Envy?" She called out to him in alarm. "Where are you going?" He remained silent still as he distanced himself away from her more and more, disappearing within the darkness that the hallway granted.

There was a haunting calm that hung in the air for a while, and Lust wasn't sure what was going on, he was acting so bizarre, even for him.

**CRASH!**

His heavy boot collided with one of the wooden doors that were plentiful along the hallways, all belonging to lavish bedrooms. The door split in half, white painted wood splintering all over the floor.

"ENVY! What in the HELL do you think you are _doing_?" Lust screeched at him, crimson eyes broadening in rage and in panic. He stepped into the room as if looking for something of utmost importance . Seconds later, he walked out, glaring at her. He immediately whipped his head around to his left, noticing another door in front of the room he barely exited and a feral grin set in.

"No, no Envy, DON'T-!"

**CRASH!**

Once again, the door gave in from the impact of his powerful kick, destroyed completely.

"Stop kicking in my _doors_!" The raven-haired woman ran up to him before he could create any more damage and grasped his wrists desperately, trying to stop his path of unreasonable destruction. He shook off her slender form easily, shoving her away into the wall while he entered the other room, still searching for something.

"Stop, please!" She found her voice again to call out to him desperately. Lust knew her strength did not compare to Envy's, even if she was stronger than most women in the entire world. A fleeting thought of going into the kitchen and retrieving a knife settled in her mind, but she immediately pushed it away. Without his regenerative abilities, a stab wound could kill him. She certainly didn't want to do that.

"WHERE?!" Envy roared at her, his maddening eyes staring straight through her. "Where _what_?" She really had half a mind to get that knife now. He was acting downright psychotic.

"WHERE IS HE?!" He snarled menacingly, knocking her over to the cold floor.

**CRASH!**

Another door completely destroyed by his boot. "_Stop_!" He was about to enter the third room of the house, when suddenly...

A loud creak then stilled all of their movements. It almost like everything in slow motion, when both of their necks twisted to the sudden noise that came from their right. A door slammed open from the far end of the hallway, presumably the Master bedroom. Both of the half-homunculi stared at the breach of light, Envy with a permanent scowl on his face and Lust with a horrified expression. A dark-haired pale skinned man stepped out of the bedroom, with a determined face and a Glock 9MM handgun.

"What the hell is going on here?" By the way the man spoke and the pajamas he had on, it was clear that he had barely woken up from a nap. His crystalline blue eyes focused on Envy, glowering at the men who also looked at him with the same distaste.

"Solaris, are you alright?" The man called out to the woman who was still lying over the floor, shaky limbs trying to regain her place. Envy's scowl only darkened. She didn't say anything, only feebly nodded. Noticing her nod, he then turned his attention to the green-haired individual, while Lust was hyperventilating in her mind. She didn't want him to find out, she didn't want _this _known.

"I knew it. You have a boy-toy."

"Envy, please not here-"

"Solaris, you know him?" The man questioned her, a bit confused of what was going on. Not to mention that 'boy-toy' comment that he made. What the hell was he _implying_? She bit her lip, unsure of what she should say but in the end she didn't have to say anything as Envy beat her too it.

"By the way, Lust is her real name. Not _Solaris_." He spat with disdain, his expression only growing darker and darker by the second. He cocked his gun at him, ready to shoot. " You don't know what you're saying."

Envy had a sinister grin on his face. "Oh, don't I?"

"Who are you?" He ruthlessly demanded.

Lust couldn't do anything. She was too shell-shocked to even move her pinky, all she could do is watch the altercations between the two most important men in her life. Envy started to laugh evilly, his eyes growing wide in delight. She knew what that meant and she wanted to scream and warn the other pajama-clad man but her mouth felt sewn shut.

"Your fucking worst nightmare." He clapped his hands loudly and placed them on the floor. The black-haired beauty quickly noted that this was something the Fullmetal alchemist and his brother did when they were about to transmutate. But homunculi couldn't perform alchemy, so why was he doing this?

A deep low rumbling shook the ground beneath them. Blue lightning sparked from Envy's fingertips, and the wood suddenly came alive. It twisted and formed into large fatal spikes which formed from the floor in a straight line, headed directly to the man with the pistol. In his fright, he squeezed the trigger of his gun, emitting a loud gunshot. A cry of pain filled the hallway and the coppery scent of blood permeated the air. This time, Lust could finally move from her temporary paralysis and before she knew what she was doing, she ran at full speed towards the end of the hallway and leaped with impressive agility in front of the man. She didn't even halt to think about how her ex-sibling could now perform alchemy.

"STOP!" She shrieked, extending her arms at full length, fully prepared to face the full-on brunt of Envy's attack. The green haired man, who was cradling his wounded shoulder, felt stupefied at the sight before him and a crestfallen expression took over his initially angry one. She was _protecting _him, and yelling at him to stop from hurting another human. This man just shot him, and she was protecting the human. This wasn't Lust, it couldn't be Lust. She would never give her life for one of those pathetic little worms... It was just too much for his mind to take in.

He didn't know why this revelation hurt him as much as it did, but he felt like his heart had been ripped out of him.

Before the spikes could impale Lust's body, he weakly put his hands on the ground again, lightning struck the floor, effectively stopping the wooden projections from their deathly path, but only by a smidgen. The tip of one spike managed to embed itself into her forearm, making her hiss in pain. Envy walked over to her, and touched the spike that was inside her skin, cracking the tip and releasing her from it. Behind her, the black-haired man was too stunned to even think, his mouth gaping wide open at what just happened. Lust turned to look at his blue eyes, and slapped him in the face. "You didn't have to shoot him!"

"I thought he was an intruder! What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"Well he isn't. He's my brother." Envy winced at being called her sibling. He didn't feel like her brother. "And, why didn't you tell me that in the _beginning _before all of this SHIT happened?"

He then looked at her hand that was entwined with the other man's. The hand she had been hiding from him. Now he could see why, by the bright glint that the diamond ring made on her finger. The green-haired half-human took many steps backwards, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"Envy," He looked at her, with a betrayed look to his face. The pain in his right shoulder grew more intense. Taking a shaky deep breath, she continued on.

"This is Jakob...My husband."

* * *

This was the fourth night in a row that Edward Elric found himself screaming in the middle of the night because of that terrifying nightmare. The same nightmare where Winry was locked up in a damp dingy cell with absolutely no light around.

The one where Envy came in wearing _his _face, a psychotic grin on his lips and took advantage of her. But it seemed that with every passing night, the nightmare grew worse and more graphic in detail. Instead of only slapping her once, he cut her arms and stomach up with the makeshift blade. That was the second night.

The third night, after leaving her body coated with blood, he commenced beating her mercilessly and instead of switching to his normal despicable form, he actually stayed wearing _his _face! To say that wasn't significantly traumatizing, watching HIMSELF trying to rape the girl that he loved would be a big lie. Of course like the other two past dreams, the minute she screamed for him to stop opening his legs was the end of the horror.

The fourth night, it all changed. Horribly changed.

Edward had to actually bit his pillow to keep from screaming some more, his body shaking in the pure unadulterated rage that boiled in his blood as he recalled the dream he had this time made him want to retch in revulsion.

_"Now be a good girl and shut the fuck up."_

_Envy said with a smug grin, opting to stay with his own voice as his free arm started to pry her legs open. She tried to squeeze her thighs as hard as she could, but knew that in the end, she would have no choice but to give in like she always had to. __Though he had pressed a sharp knife to her throat to keep her quiet and not resisting, the heart-wrenching sobs that rippled through her chest were heard, and it broke Edward's soul as he just stood there, beside her._

_Unable to do anything to help her._

_'I have to get out of here.' He thought desperately to himself. He couldn't even comfort her, he couldn't do absolutely ANYTHING. And the fact that Envy still imitated him only made him feel sick to his stomach. No, he didn't want to watch his own face light up in glee while torturing Winry. Edward started to look for an exit, anywhere, all the while feeling guilty for leaving Winry with this monster, but he knew that it didn't make sense if he stayed._

_His hands searched for some door handle or a way of escape but he found none. There wasn't even a damn window anywhere! Ed was going to have to witness it. He tried to tear his eyes off the appalling image but he couldn't. It was like a car accident happening right before him and he could not help but stare._

_No, no. no.. it began. He could tell because her cries became louder. Ed saw in horror how the homunculus used the same arm-turned into blade to slice up the band of her bra. The useless fabric fell to the floor. He didn't have to see Envy's hand (or his own hand? Oh god, it was starting to starting to affect him!) go up the frightened girl's thigh to tear away her white cotton panties, the only piece of clothing protecting her innocence. To see his own face twisted up in a diabolic smirk was more than enough torture but of course, it wasn't going to stop. Not yet.  
_

_Her whimpers grew in sound until it broke the sound barrier as he positioned himself in between her legs The Edward-look alike only snarled in annoyance and pressed the tip of the knife in the skin,so it began to bleed profusely. She choked in pain and shock, which was the perfect opening for him to take advantage of the situation. __The black skort disappeared in a white flash, leaving him with only the skin-tight top. No, he was not going to see this. He was not going to have the horrifying image before him burned into his corneas. Edward shut his eyes tightly, now collapsing on his own weight, bringing his knees to his chest and covering his ears with his hands. He tried to block out the sounds, tried to ignore them, but it was impossible._

_"Envy, please no, Envy please, anything but this!" Winry sobbed out."Girl, can you PLEASE shut up, I'd rather enjoy this in silence."_

_"I'll do anything, just please-" Edward heard skin colliding against skin, and her pitiful whimpers rang in his ears. She had been once again brutally slapped by the monster. "This is the last time I'm telling you." He heard Envy's voice, and then..._

_Winry started to scream horribly, like nails screeching against the blackboard. Her shrieks of pain and agony felt amplified by the stone walls of the cell. He didn't think that there was anything worse than to hear out crying in anguish, but it seemed like something did win out._

_"God, you're so tight."_

That is when he would wake up screaming. It was impossible to go to sleep again after with the nightmare, looming near. Even if he was so tired he felt like he could pass out any second, he would not go to sleep knowing that was what awaited him.

And every time Ed awoke, he had the horrible premonition that something bad was going to happen...

Something to Winry.

But that bastard was dead and gone. It was just a stupid dream, right?

.

* * *

_*All the boys who the dance floor didn't love,  
and all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough,  
sing until your lungs give out,*_


	13. Caged

I apologize for the necessary vagueness in the timeline of this story. All odd-numbered chapters are present-time; all even-numbered chapters are Envy's flashbacks.

In the flashbacks, he still hasn't even met up with Winry.

_*Started of local, but thanks to all the haters,_  
_I know G4 pilots on a first name basis*_

* * *

Her whimpers were starting to give him a headache.

Envy sucked on his teeth impatiently at the girl's incessant need to make him deaf and grew close to her own face. Her cerulean eyes lit up with an undeniable fright for the half-homunculus, and she started to tremble. He bared his teeth at her and grabbed a fistful of her blonde hair, yanking her head back in the process. Winry cried out in pain, as his other hand then shoved a cloth down her throat, effectively making her for the most part quiet.

"This is the last time I'm telling you," He spoke in an exasperated tone. "If you don't shut the hell up, I'll have to punish you again just like last time." He smiled darkly, relishing the girl's expression go from afraid to absolutely petrified.

Right after Winry had stood up to him assertively, he slapped her again to show who was boss around here. After she toppled to the floor, he started to drag her from her hair, practically using her as a mop until he arrived at the kitchen. The trip was only a few minutes long, but she felt like she had been screaming at the top of her lungs for hours. He was rummaging through the drawers, apparently looking for something. Winry was too dizzy from having her scalp yanked horribly to notice the steel glint of a butter knife wielded.

It was too late to protest and beg for forgiveness.

_Envy yanked her hair again, until she was sprawled completely on the floor. He crawled on top of her, which Winry responded by trying to fight him off ferociously. He gripped her throat with a vicious hold, ending her futile struggle almost completely and straddled her waist, licking his lips in anticipation, his eyes drinking in her body. __She had her usual white tank top and blue skirt, which fit her exceptionally well. With brute strength, he tore the top right from her chest, leaving her only in a lacy black bra. __All the while this was happening, she thought to herself... What have I done?_

_Envy thought that he might get a kick out of her expression if he turned into the Fullmetal runt, but decided not to. He was going to leave that trick up his sleeve until he REALLY wanted to make her suffer._

_"No, Envy, I'm sorry I won't do it again! no, PLEASE!" Winry screamed, eyes wide as saucers, eyeing the weapon in his hand._

_"Too late for that, blondie." He pressed the knife right above her breasts, below her clavicle bone. Since it was a butter knife, he had to apply more pressure to break her skin, which actually would hurt her more than a regular sharp knife would. The malice in his eyes never failed to fall as he carved in letter after letter into her now blood-splattered skin, all the while she shrieked and wailed in the pain that was overtaking her body. __It felt like an en eternity, which Envy's eyes furrowed in concentration as he slowly and painstakingly carved out the last letter in her chest. Unknown to her, his carving hand was shaking violently and his face had grown significantly paler than before._

_The blood stained butter knife clattered to her side, and he finally let go of her throat, his hands resting on his hips cockily. He recovered from looking tortured himself, though his orbs still carried a pained expression, to enjoying the sight below him. His smile looked boastful, as if he had finished a grueling piece of art and was proud of the ending result. "Simply divine." He sighed to himself, and finally stood up from her shaking body. Her breath was shallow and irregular, and she turned her head slowly until her right ear touched the cold wood._

_There was a small puddle of blood in where she lay._

_"Get up." She tried, she really did, but her legs gave out the minute she put her body weight on them. She didn't notice that he had pocketed the knife again for future use. __Envy rolled his eyes and hoisted her form to his shoulder like if she was a sack of potatoes and carried her to the nearest bathroom._

_The slender man dropped her to the floor with no gentle touch at all, making her hit her forehead with the tiles. He yanked her by the hair again, making her her cry out until her wobbly knees straightened to see herself in the bathroom mirror._

_There it was._

_B-I-T-C-H._

_She stifled the sobs that wracked her upper body. The wounds were deep that she knew it would probably leave horrible scars. All because she wanted to be a smart-ass. __"Ah-ah," Winry heard his sing-song voice once again."I'm not done."_

_In an instant, she was harshly pushed down to the sink, her hands gripping the white ceramic edges as her only support. Already she could feel the screams build up in her throat, but silenced them immediately when the half-homunculus grasped the back of her throat tightly, as a warning._

_In other words, saying 'you better not.'_

_She bit her lip, knowing something bad was going to happen but she didn't know exactly what. Winry felt his hand running up and down her back, like if he was caressing her. Was he going to rape her? She almost certain he was, since the position he had forced her-her skirt not even covering half of her cheeks now that she was bent down- made her quite open for it. Immediately her fear of being violated was replaced, when she felt the tip of the knife again against her skin._

_And the carving commenced once again._

_"B-L-O-N-D-I-E..." Envy spelled out the letters slowly he was currently engraving on her back , his hand more meticulous and precise. His face again grew very pale at each letter, and he even started to bite his lip as if trying not to cry out. Each new wound burned like if it was on fire. It hurt so much. __Even if she could not see her own back, she knew that it was covered with blood. Of course, Envy paid no attention to her pleas. Finally, the torture was over as she heard the knife dropped to the floor._

_"I know you well enough to not call you Blondie or Bitch. But frankly I don't give a fuck. Now, you have both of those names carved into your body. This serves as your punishment for even daring to stand up to me, little slut." Winry actually could picture his face right, now with that shit-eating grin on his face and his violet eyes dancing with delight._

_She realized how much in danger her life actually was._

That had been yesterday in the dead of night. And Winry was already sick of everything.

Him, her life, her pain.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she started to struggle more violently, if that was even possible. She couldn't very well speak very sensibly, but she definitely tried and Envy was positively sure he heard something along the lines of, "_Fuck you." _She didn't even care that he could kill her with a snap of her throat, she was already so sick of it all. His smile grew into a complete grin.

"Either you are the _stupidest _human I've ever threatened...or the bravest. I haven't decided yet." His tone was playful and teasing, as if he was talking to an old friend instead of a terrified hostage. Winry scoffed internally,glaring murderously at the sin .

Envy, noticing her expression, laughed heartily. She really was something else, with a temper that could best anyone. He was completely sure that after the little fun he had with her yesterday at night, she was going to break and become a soulless shell of herself. Instead it seemed like the fire intensified in her eyes and made her fight even harder than ... She had many qualities about her, all that seemed oddly familiar, like if he met part of her before.

Then, a revelation hit him. The Fullmetal Pipsqueak, Alphonse, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Maes Hughes...even the fearsome Izumi Curtis were in Winry's eyes. She had them all as a distinct part of her personality. Like Roy Mustang's determination, Alphonse's kind nature, Riza's adoration of weapons (with the only difference of preferring a wrench instead of a gun). it was all within her! She was a combination of all of his enemies in the Military. Maybe that's why he was so looking forward to ,make her suffer. He wanted to break her, so he could break them all.

Why in the hell did Father not pay sufficient attention to her? If the homunculi had her within their grasp from the beginning, if she had been integrated as an important pawn in His transmutation plan, everything could have turned drastically different. She was the anchor to the Elric brothers, the source of comfort for the Hughes family, close friends with Riza Hawkeye and a held mutual appreciation for Roy Mustang. She could have been the key to everything. He snickered once more, chiding himself for still thinking like one of Father's minions. He was free, he didn't have to do shit for anybody else but himself! Winry whipped her head around to glare at him and lashed out to him, thinking that he was laughing at her current situation. Envy merely took a step back, narrowly avoiding her tight fists, amusement never falling from his face.

She was afraid of him, he knew that much. But unlike others, she actually stood up to her fears. And he liked that.

"Aww, what's the matter sweetheart?" A vicious hiss erupted from her throat, indignant that he could even dare call her that. "Don't like your _accommodations_?" He asked at her, words dripping with rancid honey, wearing a pout of mocking concern.

_Of COURSE not, asshole! I'm chained to the fucking floor!_

She wanted to scream at him. All she could do however, was only keep on glaring. Both her ankles and wrists were bound by transmutated shackles (courtesy of the metal material she used to make automail), and her ankle handcuffs were attached to the cement floor of the dark basement that was used to house the extra supplies for her workshop. The rattling of the metal chains started to annoy Envy, and he knew she was doing it on purpose.

"Here's the thing hun," He started to speak." Nobody's going to come rescue you. In this backwater town of Resembool,, everybody lives so far away from each other that its ridiculous. Even if you scream at the top of your lungs, no one will notice. I couldn't have taken care of ol' Pinako if everyone could hear her cries for help, now wouldn't I?"

Winry started to shriek muffled profanities at him, her entire body lunging at him. Her eyelids blinked rapidly at the tears of rage that threatened to spill. "How rude, I'm speaking! Now be quiet." He patted her head if she was a dog. "You're stuck with me, and will do whatever I tell you to do. Either that, or you will face much more punishment. This is how this relationship goes... I say_ 'jump'_, and you say _'how high?' _Pretty simple, isn't that right? Nod."

Her ragged breathing rang in his ears painfully, and he grabbed her hair much more harshly than before. The air became thick with the scent of her fear. He inhaled it greedily before snapping at her in a final tone.

"I _said..._Nod. " Her head bobbed up and down rapidly. "Good. I'll make a deal with you. If you promise to be a good little pet, I'll take off that gag off your pretty lips. Just don't fucking scream or Imma shove the rag down your throat so far down it's gonna come outta your ass." He spoke sweetly like if he was her prince charming asking her hand, and finished off his statement by giving her a dazzling smile. She had the greatest urge to scream at him but knew it wouldn't be the wisest choice. She already knew from many secondary sources _and _first-hand that Envy was not be fucked with. Frankly, she would have been less scared if it was a ferocious rabid beast.

Winry started to shake her shackles again, trying to convey a message to her captor. Immediately, Envy saw the hope shine in her eyes and shook his head indefinitely. "No." He said harshly. "The chains stay. Can't have you running away and fucking up my plans now. Take it or leave it, _Blondie._" She looked at him angrily at the subtle insult, her chest and back still burned, and slowly nodded. What else could she do, but agree? Her captor grew near again, and took out the cloth out of her mouth with ease. She immediately began to cough, as it was so disgustingly FILTHY it was a surprise she didn't vomit right then and there.

"Can I have some water?" She choked out, to which Envy shook his head again. "Don't think so. You need 24/7 vigilance. With your automail skills and brains, you'll try to figure out a chance to escape, even if I leave for five minutes. I'm not risking that." The fact that he paid a compliment to the blonde girl went unnoticed by both of them.

"Please? I promise I won't leave, can I just have water? I'll die of dehydration and I can't stand this horrible taste in my mouth! Please-please-pleaseeeeeee-" His hand covered her mouth, his face contorted in a grimace clearly annoyed.

"Agh, fine fine! I'm going for your damn water, just shut up." Envy muttered as he clambered up the stairs of the basement to enter the first floor of her house. Winry tried to extend her sore legs on the cement floor but since her ankles were chained to the ground, it was to no avail. All she could do was either sit indian style on the floor or lie down with her back touching the cold wall of the basement. Obviously the last one was not possible as her wound was still fresh and raw. It still bled incessantly.

With Envy gone, she could think freely.

_You won't become a sniveling damsel in distress in front of this monster. You are probably going to die either way, if you obey or disobey his orders. Might as well go from this earth with SOME dignity. __I'll give him a hard time all the way until his plan's ruined. I'm not sure how yet, but I will not let him get away with it. No matter what._

Granted, for her life, she wasn't thinking rationally. But she didn't care. She'd rather die standing than living on her knees. Loud footsteps were approaching. The door opened, letting in a beam of light, which was extinguished almost instantly as the green-haired sin closed it again with a glass of water in his hand. The minute he walked in front of her, he shoved the glass to her hand. "Here." He grumbled.

"T-thank you." Her voice grew timid despite her strong thoughts, and she mentally berated herself for already looking like a weakling. There was one thing that she could not control, however, no matter how much she tried. The mind-boggling terror that gripped her heart the minute she saw him. Her fear for this Envy person made her not want to push her luck, not want to challenge him in any way possible. But she had to fight down the fear, she had to._  
_

"What did you do to my granny?" She hissed fiercely. He smiled at her. "She's long gone, little girl. Trapped and never getting out." The angry look in her ocean-blue eyes disappeared, and a look of relief overcame her face. "Wait, you didn't kill her?"

"Why would I?"

"Well, from what I heard about you-"

"And what have you exactly heard about me?" Envy sneered at her. Winry held her breath, not knowing what to say. Should she tell him that she even practically everything Edward knew about him? Or act stupid?

"Not much. I just know you like to make humans suffer." She lied.

_If I pretend not to know anything, I could start asking him some questions about himself and gradually go my way up to asking about his plans. There is no harm in that. He never said anything about not asking questions, I could definitely do that without looking suspicious.I will probably be much more successful in ruining his agenda, then! After all, you'll get a lot more with honey than with vinegar. _She thought to herself, with a small nonexistent smile.

"Oh really? Is that all you know?"

"Other than the fact that your name is Envy and you're a practically immortal being, yes" He sat down on a wooden chair that was about two or three yards away from her and bowed his head down, with his hands clasped together. It almost looked like he was praying, but he was secretly ecstatic. The girl didn't know about his current predicament and how he was not capable of regenerating! He would have a much easier time to try and handle her if she thought he was still a complete homunculus.

_ So she doesn't know about us. All she said is she think I'm an immortal being, not a homunculus. Does she know about regeneration and the fact that I(used to) shift my limbs into weapons? If she does, she might be suspicious that I would get a butter knife instead of just using my arm. Then-_

"Hey." Winry made her voice as soft and innocent as possible. He slightly raised his head and cracked an eye open at her, irritated that she had disrupted his deep thoughts."What do you want, worm?"

"I-Is Envy your real name?" She tried to make her questions as simple and basic as she possibly could, so he really was convinced that she really didn't know much of him. He just scowled and looked away from her, completely ignoring her. A silence enveloped the two, as Winry racked her brain to see what she did wrong to shut him down. Maybe he got offended?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a sensitive subject-"

"HAHAHAHHAA! You humans crack me up! You actually think I get hurt by what one of you stupid little _vile _beings say to me?! I could care less!" Envy laughed at her, mockingly. The girl's forehead throbbed in anger, but she inhaled deeply and exhaled. Soon, she calmed down.

"So, it is your_-?_"

"YES, it's my real name. What kind of stupid question is that? You think I suddenly grew bored of my original one and decided that I liked Envy? Who in their RIGHT mind would voluntarily pick a _shitty_ name like that?" She stayed quiet, noticing how his tone grew in distaste as he finished his sentence.

"You don't like it?" The sin then grew as still as stone, his eyes widening for a split second before returning into their narrowed form. There was no necessity to let her know of that last part, he let that slip. He really had a problem with biting his tongue sometimes.

"It works just fine." He finally spat at her, after many minutes of awkward silence. "How old are you?" Winry inquired, a bit more intrigued now than she was before. Though she did know many things about the homunculus, his age was unknown to both Ed and her. She was guessing a hundred?

"A lot older than you imagine." He merely stated, bored. "Oh..." Another awkward silence.

"You're a homunculus, right?"

"Yep." He sighed, pretty blase and uncaring. _So the girl DOES know what a homunculus is...but does she knew the full extent of my abilities? _"Um, so do you have a family?"

He stood up suddenly, his hands pulling at his hair like if he was frustrated. "What is this, twenty fucking questions? None of your damn business!" That being said, Envy started to head to the ladder, obviously wanting to leave. Winry tried once more.

"Wait, don't leave." He halted, head turning slightly at her, curious at her statement. Guessing from what he'd done to her, she would want him to get as far away from her as possible! Actually, now that he thought it a bit more, this was the first time he had ever heard _anyone _say these words directed at him, when he was actually in his true form. What is going on in that head of hers?

"What if we take turns? I ask you something and you answer honestly and you ask me something, and I'll answer honestly." She gave a small almost hopeful smile at him. He fought the urge to smile at the opportunity. This was his chance to figure out what she knew about him.

"As if I wanted to know something about you, human. " He scoffed, it would be too risky to accept her offer.

"Please, there's nothing else to do here-."

Envy's ear twitched but he left the room, leaving her without an answer.

.

* * *

_*And I all I wanted was a lousy letter or a call,_  
_ I ripped up all of the pictures that I had taped to the wall.*_


	14. Playing Doctor

_*How could you let him sleep in our bed?! Look at him!_  
_Look at your husband now! (**NO!**) I said LOOK AT HIM!*_

I swear, sometimes the music I listen to by chance fits exactly to my chapter. (._.)

* * *

.

.

His violet eyes danced around the walls impatiently, sight never settling on any object for too long.

The guestroom-out of the many- was lavish, with a lot of old-fashioned accents and luxurious furniture. Now that he was observing so intently, he fleetingly noticed that the primary color of the room was green. Envy was currently trying to distract himself from the biting pain that was taking over his right side. Of course, he had no idea why he was in so much pain.

Oh yeah that's right, because a freaking bullet was buried in his shoulder! And it was all Lust's stupid husband's fault, the little bastard, that he was currently bed-ridden with a high fever and the busty sin looming over him, concern clear in her beautiful crimson eyes and tight lips. "OW!" He whined at Lust's constant poking and prodding at wound "Oh, hush." She chastised, flexing her two gloved blood stained hands. "I need to drain the pus from the puncture, or risk it getting more infected." Her nimble fingers dug once again into the red swollen flesh, which made him whine like a kicked puppy.

"Ugh, stupid human bodies." He complained. "They're so damn weak they can't take a little _bullet _without it being fatal."

"Suck it up." She rolled her eyes at him. " You got to get used to take care of yourself. You can't risk getting hurt, because we are now fragile creatures. There are no second chances for us, understand? Crying about it like an infant won't make it better. " If Envy was fully awake and healthy, he would have pounced in anger at his ex-sister's snappy remarks at him, but he only could raise a weak arm, flipping her off with a shaky middle finger. She narrowed her eyes, and doused his wound with rubbing alcohol. Envy hissed in pain, and looked at her straight in her eyes.

"It's all your stupid boy toy's fault..." He growled viciously at her, but she paid no heed to his words.

"Don't call him that, and you provoked him. " She replied blandly. "What did you expect him to do? Lie there as you prepared a full attack on him? He not may as intelligent as our kind once was, but rest assured, he can beat _you_ any day."

His face grew red in rage, and he started to bleed more profusely from the gash because of his pounding heart. "Say that again, you bitch." He spat venomously at her, stifling the urge to tear her limb from limb. Envy knew however, that her insult was low but it was true. Jakob had an aura of authority and had a take-no shit attitude that strangely reminded him of the Fullmetal bastard. He _could _have killed the half-homunculus with ease. So maybe that's why her words offended him so much. He couldn't stand the truth

.  
Lust sighed, closing her eyes for a split second and said nothing. A long heavy silenced settled between the two and she rubbed his injury gently with antiseptic, and took out a scalpel and forceps with a remorseful look. Even her normally emotionless orbs were filled with pity. "There is no way to numb it."

He silently turned his head to the other side, avoiding her sympathetic gaze and relaxed his shoulder muscles, letting her finish the job. Lust reluctantly continued on, all while Envy gritted his teeth, silencing his screams as best as he could. However, the pain was too great and he could not retain crying out once or twice as Lust dug deeper in his laceration trying to rid him of the foreign object in his body.

It felt like an eternity to him, with the metallic smell of his blood thick in the air, overtaking his nostrils, the pulsing ache that traveled through his bloodstream, and to top it off, he was also rapidly becoming light-headed. He wanted it to be over already, he was already seeing splotches in his vision. A large white splotch suddenly whizzed by like a comet, and instead of seeing clear, everything looked out of focus and blurry. The colors seemed faded and too bright. An unpleasant sensation filled him, a horrible dizziness that overtook his mind and Envy turned to look at his female companion, a bit bewildered as he never felt like this before.

Instead of seeing one attractive woman however, he saw two of them.

Overlapping each other.

"What the hell..." He croaked out, eyelids fluttering rapidly.

His forehead broke out in a chilling cold sweat, and his breaths involuntarily grew shallow. His body wasn't present. Lead was filling his bones, his essence and he felt paralyzed. In a minute, all of his life energy was painfully drained from him, making him unable to even move a finger. It took all of his strength to keep his eyelids open. He couldn't really describe the sensations running through his body, only that he felt like he was going to die. "I-I don't feel good, Lust." Envy found his mouth moving without him even acknowledging it.

The room began to spin, slowly but surely gaining speed.

"I don't feel good at all," His stomach churned and twisted with no mercy, leaving a awful taste in his mouth. Nausea was hitting him in powerful uncontrollable waves, and he couldn't stop gagging. Bile rose to his throat in an instant. Violet eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hand. Immediately, Lust stopped her probing with her tools, and fetched him a nearby chamber pot. She came instantly to his side and helped him up into a semi-sitting position. Before he could process what was happening, a torrent of vomit spewed out of his lips straight into the bowl. The raven-haired woman had a hand resting on his back, holding him up but at the same time, trying to comfort him, her palm slowly rubbing his spine. His whole form shook violently as he was retching uncontrollably into the foul-smelling pot.

He had never felt so horrible in his life. Was this what humans experienced every time they fell ill? This was fucking torture!

"The infection's getting worse." She muttered to herself, disgruntled and worried.

After what seemed like centuries passed, and Envy heaved for the last time, Lust put down the antique bowl and wiped his lips with a cloth. She laid him down gently again on the bed, his breath still heavy and his skin peppered with cold sweat. There was a deathly-looking pallor to his face, even to the point of having a slight twinge of green. She could tell he was struggling against the impending weakness that wanted to overtake him. His wound still spurted blood like a fountain, making his head now light as air.

He could barely see now, the light that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere was so bright. He could only make out Lust's red lips, which were curling up into a smile. But not just any typical smile. It was a warm compassionate smile that radiated a foreign emotion, one that he couldn't exactly place. Expression of fear and hates, those were the ones that he knew by memory. But this? What in the hell was it?

Maybe it was what the humans referred to as affection.

Though the thought perturbed a bit, especially since this _was _her giving him the smile, other things had him preoccupied, like the awful burning in his right shoulder as she embedded the scalpel deeper in his skin, already touching the bullet. She now had the forceps at hand, ready to wrench the slug out.

"Envy. Let go. Don't feel the pain... Just go to sleep." Her voice was soft, soothing and haunting. Like a beautiful dream.

Envy finally exhaled, closing his eyes and succumbing to the darkness. Lust sighed in relief, feeling his body go limp. Now she could work without worrying about his pain too much.

It was grueling, stressful and she wasn't any doctor (and she couldn't call one, she wouldn't want to risk anyone recognizing him) , but at last the blood stained slug was removed without further complications. The bullet was deposited into a thin metal tray, along with her medical instruments. Hmm. His wound couldn't properly be bandaged if he had his long-sleeved muscle shirt on.

Lust looked at Envy's passed out form in the queen-sized bed, refusing to take on step closer to him. Immediately the expression of reluctance was wiped from her facial features as she shook her head. _Don't be an idiot. He needs to be bandaged! If that means taking his shirt off, then so be it. _She nodded to herself confidently and took a big stride towards her ex-brother's sleeping body.

_Okay, be quick and efficient. _She chanted to herself as her gentle hands grasped the hem of the black neoprene.

As Lust tried to pull it up, she came to the startling realization that the fabric was so tight it was _literally_ like his second skin. " Does-he-have-" She struggled with the clothing, pulling it up bit by bit. "-the-shirt-painted ON?" After a practically mortal conflict with the neoprene, she finally got the shirt to his neck. Now another good hard tug...The fabric was removed from Envy's head with a loud _pop!_ The once held-back evergreen haired fanned out again against the silk pillow, almost in a comical fashion.

"Ah!" Lust actually stumbled a bit, since she was using a fairly good amount of strength on that damn-stubborn piece of clothing. Envy subconsciously shivered of the chilling atmosphere, his exposed chest instantly being covered by millions of goosebumps. The beautiful sin stepped back a bit and took a good look at the part of him she had never seen before. Before turning into half-human, the homunculi's (except for Wrath) clothes never had to be changed, never had to be removed. It was practically _their _skin! Now, it was different, and it could be taken off, it wasn't actually a part of them.

In all the two hundred or so years that Lust knew Envy, she never once saw what an absolutely _marvelous _chest he had. He wasn't ripped to the point of being extreme or exaggerated, but the muscles definitely popped out of his skin in a very nice way. Like the way his abs were at the moment, also very defined. Simply put, it was like Envy had been meticulously chiseled from ivory marble and magically turned into human. Her crimson eyes pried away from his exposed skin and grabbed the white gauze to her left.

Her job still wasn't finished. She quickly bandaged his injury, stopping the bleeding and while she was acting out the role of doctor, replaced the warm rag on his feverish forehead with a damp cool one.

After checking his vitals one last time, and covering his body with a tan blanket-she didn't want him to also catch a cold on top of it all-, she left the guest bedroom he was currently residing in, now heading towards the kitchen. The white medical gloves were ripped from her hands and tossed to the garbage. Jakob was there, sitting in the dining table with his arms crossed, eyeing the bloody gloves. He had been waiting for her.

"How is he?" He asked, not really concerned. She chose to ignore the biting undertone of his voice.

"His fever's still high, the infection's getting stronger, and he passed out from the pain. But I got the godforsaken bullet out." His face was marred with an unpleasant expression, clearly not happy with his presence in the house. "If you hadn't shot him, this could have been avoided." Lust retorted angrily. Jakob stood up, slamming his palms to the wooden surface of the kitchen table. "He wanted to kill me, Solaris! You wanted me to stand there like an idiot when I was about to be impaled with transmutated spikes?!"

"You pulled out that gun before he even knew you were here! And you were prepared to shoot, no matter what he did." Her thin dark eyebrows narrowed dangerously. "You didn't even know what was happening. He's my brother and you shot him down like some kind of animal."

"I didn't _know_? The minute I stepped out of the damn room, I saw you crumpled on the floor and he kicking in the door to one of our rooms! He was definitely acting like _quite _the animal-"

"Be quiet." She snapped at him. He merely scoffed at her, piercing blue eyes cold and emotionless, much like Roy Mustang's onyx ones. "And, you never mentioned that you even _had _any living family member, much less a brother. We've been married for almost four years and you hide this type of shit from me?! I tell you everything and you can't even tell me about your _family_?!" Lust growled at him uncharacteristically, and strode to the living room angrily. Her husband followed suit, watching a trail of blood traveling down her left arm.

He retreated to the kitchen to rummage around some cabinets and came out again with gauze. She looked at him, confused and then noticed her arm was pulsing and felt hot. Lust looked down to see the cut Envy had accidentally caused had started to bleed because of her stress. He motioned to her to sit down, sitting right next to her, and started to bandage her forearm.

Painstakingly.

Tenderly.

As the rage finally simmered down, and her heart wasn't pounding away, she decided to speak again.

"Jakob, please do not jump to conclusions. I never told you about him because I was too embarrassed," She lied effortlessly, even putting up a good act of looking shameful. "My brother is insane. He sees things that aren't there, and cannot distinguish fiction from reality."

"So he calls you Lust, because..." He trailed off. He wasn't yelling at her anymore, something that she was internally grateful for. Every time he got angry, it was like hell. " It's part of his fantasy world. He believes we are living immortal sins and he decided my name was Lust. He calls himself Envy, and I merely follow along with him because it's pointless to convince him otherwise."

Jakob looked at her, befuddled. "Immortal sins? What does that even mean?" She raised her arms up in the air, exasperated. "Your guess is as good as mine." After so much experience fooling around with humans, her acting skills could be hailed as perfection.

"And what the hell is up with his hair?"

"He likes to style it that way." She retorted dismissively. How in the world could she be able to tell him that was his _natural _hair? He would never believe her.

"How in the world did he make it _green_?" Lust shrugged, irritated at his incessant questions.

"Alright then, what's his real name?" He demanded. Lust hesitated, not really knowing what to say. Envy never really had an alias like she had, he merely took the name of whoever he shape-shifted to. Damn, any name would have to do, she'll just think of one randomly.

"Maes." She winced. Maybe she could have thought of a better one? Hopefully, Jakob didn't find the name familiar.

"Maes Havoc?" Her eyebrows raised at his suggestion. " _Havoc_?" He looked at her like if she was stupid.

"Yeah, your maiden name is Havoc. It _is _his last name right? He has the same father as you?" The circuits in her brain instantly clicked and she nodded her head as if barely recalling it. She had forgotten that when she barely met Jakob, she took Jean's last name as her own. For what reasons, she doesn't know and does NOT want to figure out.

"Ah yes, I'm sorry. The stench of the blood made my head feel woozy. I'm a little slow right now. " He sucked on his teeth. "So, is there any other family member that you are hiding from me? Father, or mother maybe?" She rolled her eyes.

"No, you know that both of my parents died when I was a child." He stayed silent after that and gave a small chuckle.

"What?"

"It's ironic, really. 'Lust'..." He rolled the name of his tongue as if sampling it in his mouth. "It's just that your brother chose the perfect name for you." His voice was no longer bitter, a pleasant smile on his handsome face. He grew close to her, wrapping his right arm around her petite waist. The initial scowl that seemed permanent on her face disappeared to show her smirk knowingly at her husband.

"Is that so?" She asked teasingly, her red lips still curved into a grin. Jakob buried his face into her neck, nuzzling against her soft skin.

"Oh, I'm perfectly sure." He whispered lovingly to her ear.

* * *

The bright Cretian sun shone through large glass windows, illuminating the large hotel room Edward resided in.

Although the atmosphere had a cheery quality to it, it was definitely not what the former alchemist was feeling at the moment. In fact, he was actually a little upset. Scratch, he was very, v_ery_ fucking upset. Add that with being dead-tired, it was almost a ticking time bomb to go off in Ed's brain. And what was causing his turmoil, you may ask? The same problem that was plaguing him for almost two whole weeks. It was practically a horrendous routine, repeated and repeated...daily.

Have the nightmare.

Wake up screaming.

Unable to sleep for the rest of night.

The whole ordeal had gotten so bad that Ed abandoned sleep altogether, too afraid of what awaited him. Edward Elric had admittedly a lot of negative traits, but he definitely wasn't stupid. His subconscious mind was trying to tell him something...something about Winry. And Envy torturing her? God, it didn't even make any sense. He shook his head, frustrated to say the least. He couldn't waste time putting it off. He just _had_ to call her.

The phone was immediately retrieved and pressed tightly against his ear, his fingers drumming impatiently on the wooden surface of the hotel drawer. Waiting for someone to pick up on the other line. Waiting. Waiting. He was about to hang up when the signature chain smoker voice of Pinako was heard. "Rockbell Automail. Can I help you?"

"Hey Granny."

"Edward? You didn't break your automail again, did you-"

"No, no..." He interrupted her, scratching his head sheepishly while the other hand cradled the phone. "It's not that. I just want to talk to Winry. " He heard the elderly woman sigh and suck her teeth pensively. "She's not here, Ed." This took him back a little, half-expecting that she would be there whenever he called.

"What? Then where is she?"

"Rush Valley. She went over to help Garfield with his shop." He rolled his eyes. _Figures she'd be there. _"Since when?" Ed asked curiously. "About six months ago. She isn't coming back for a couple more months, however. Maybe two or three. "

"Damn, that long huh?" On the other line, Pinako was actually a bit intrigued that the blonde-haired boy even called her at all. And he didn't even call her for automail repair! Strange.

"Is there something wrong? You don't usually call to have idle chit-chat with my granddaughter, Ed."

He sighed, not at all surprised. That was Pinako for you. Blunt and straight to the point. "Uh...well actually it's not something really important. I just wanted to talk to her." His voice lowered in embarrassment, molten eyes blinking over and over, anxiety clutching his stomach. Did she just snicker? "Ahh.I see." Pinako chuckled, getting a kick out of tormenting the boy. This was too rich. Edward wanted to talk just for the heck of it? She could practically see him fidgeting over the phone, red as a tomato, trying not to seem too nervous.

"Alright, Gran nice talking to you, Bye!" He blurted out a slur of too-fast words, hanging up the phone in an instant. Well, that did absolutely NOTHING for reassurance. It only served to make him feel like a bumbling fool. He needed to speak to her directly to appease the dread growing in the pit of his stomach.

Now, what was that weird Armstrong look-alike's phone number?

..

The shrill ringing almost broke the mechanic's ears. "Winry, be a doll and pick up the phone for me please!" The effeminate man called from the storage room, busy searching for a part for a client. She barely finished up a limb for a customer, so she nodded her yes and made her way through the bustle of people in the small shop and picked up the contraption.

"Garfield's Automail Shop, how may I help you?" Her voice was smooth and professional, waiting for a response. On the other line, Edward was silent for a while, not really expecting for her answer so quickly.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She repeated herself in the same calm manner. Yep, it was definitely her. He could tell by the way her voice made the skin on his arms rise with goosebumps. Only his female childhood friend could do that.

"...Winry."

The blonde girl immediately straightened up, recognizing her fiancee(?)'s voice. "Edo-kun?" He involuntarily smiled at the curiosity lacing her voice. "Hey machine junkie." Despite herself, she beamed into the receiver. "Hi, alchemy freak." She replied back warmly, her hands tightening around the phone's handle. "What's the occasion of your call?" He grunted at her question, a bit irritated. "What, now I can't call you?"

"It's not that," She stated. "It's just that you never do."

"Whatever, look-"

"YOU DIDN'T BREAK MY PRECIOUS AUTOMAIL-?!"

"NO, it's not the damn automail, Sheesh!" Her initial anger deflated like a balloon and she sat down on the wooden chair again, composing herself. "Oh. Then, what is it?" He rubbed the back of his blonde head nervously, not sure how to even express his concern for her well-being. _Shit, I didn't even think this through._

"A-are you alright?" Winry pushed her bangs away from her face. "Yes, I'm fine."

"You haven't noticed anything off around there? Something that doesn't seem to sit right?" _Like a green-haired palm tree homunculus running around..._ His mind completed the question.

"Uhh, no, not that I know of." Her eyebrows arched in suspicion. "What's this about, Ed?" He gave a long sigh, unsure of what to say.

_Dammit, might as well say the truth. _After pondering for a while, his mouth opened again. "I've been having bad dreams," Edward confessed, starting to fidget under his own meddlesome thoughts. "About you." A rosy flush formed on his cheeks. Winry's baby blue orbs widened. He had been _dreaming_ about her?

"They really freaked me out, and...I wanted to call you-"

He struggled to finish his sentence, clearing his throat repeatedly. "a-and make sure you were okay." She almost couldn't stop the involuntary 'AWW!' that threatened to spill from her lips. The smile returned with a vengeance.

"That's so...sweet..." She finally said in a light voice, eyes glittering with affection.

Edward huffed, and shut his eyes, his hand resting on his hip, almost in a pretentious way. "It's not like I don't worry about anyone else," He interjected haughtily. "Also about Granny and Al." The sparkle in her eyes vanished instantly as the words took away the special feeling that had been enveloping her heart. She slumped dejectedly. "Oh...so you worry about me like you do for family, right?" Ed knew what she was getting at, and he knew that he was being stupid, but he still replied in a way he knew he would regret it later. "Yep."

"I see." She stated, sadness weighting her words down. The question resurfaced again. It was on the tip of Winry's tongue.

_So, what you told me wasn't a proposal? _She asked herself that over and over again, every single day. She really didn't know, and now with what he said, she wanted to scream it out. Her pride, however, got the best of her. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I am fine. I really should get going, today's a real busy day in Garfield's shop. I'll talk to you some other day, yeah?" By the clipped and curt tone of her voice, he knew he fucked up. But of course, he didn't say anything, only agree with her silent plea to cut the call short. "Alright. Bye Winry."

"Bye." She was about to put the phone down, when she heard the blonde boy shriek "_Wait!" _In a second, the receiver was pressed to her ear.

"What?"

"...I miss you."

Butterflies exploded in her stomach, and she gave a slight smile. " I miss you too. " She admitted, her face growing flushed. "Bye." They both stated in unison and hung up. Winry stared at the telephone for another long minute, thinking to herself. He said he missed her.

_He probably meant like a sister or something. That what he said anyway...he looks at me like family. Not like anything else... __But how could you even categorize what he told you back at the train station something brotherly? You don't say to your siblings "I'll give you half of my life, if you give me half of yours", so what is going on?_

_Ugh, Ed why do you have to be so complicated?! _Winry, without noticing, starting to pull at her blonde strands, clearly frustrated at the mixed signals that the boy was sending her. "He's going to be the death of me." She sighed.

Meanwhile, Edward was currently ripping his own hair and for the same exact reason. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _It was like it was a law of nature that he always perpetually screwed up around her. Never saying the right thing! He was sure to get a good whack in the head with her favorite wrench when he got home, that was certain.

Well, at least he knew that she didn't get kidnapped or something.

Hopefully, he would be able to sleep from now on.

* * *

.

"Owwww," Envy whined, rolling over to his left side, feeling a pulsing pain in his shoulder.

He opened his eyes slowly, getting used to the bleary light that the oil lamp was giving off beside the nightstand. He looked around once, twice, and saw that he was alone in the same room. He sat up in the bed, feeling a bit disoriented. After his vision didn't seem so blurry, he noticed a couple of bizarre things.

_I don't remember taking off my shirt. _He looked at his own bare chest in confusion. _I didn't even know it COULD be removed! _Then he noticed the blood-stained gauze bandaged around his wound. Where did it come from? Now thinking about it more, he couldn't remember anything after he started to feel sick. All he drew a big blank.

_I passed out. _Envy realized, and immediately scowled._ Homunculi don't ever lose consciousness, _He thought crossly.

That meant that Lust rid him of the shirt and bandaged the injury. "Huh." He wasn't really sure how to react to that information. Lust never really took care of him before and she did like in such a motherly way, it was strange to say the least. Either this was a coy act for her _husband_- Envy wrinkled his eyebrows in distaste- or she actually did change in the short time-span he wasn't around her.

He shivered from the cold air and grabbed a beige blanket that only covered his legs(which he noted that Lust took off his boots). He proceeded to wrap it tightly around his upper body. Still, his form trembled despite him not wanting to. He growled, disliking the feeling of freezing air on his skin. There was also a horrible taste in his mouth from the time he vomited. His stomach was growling like there was no tomorrow. And not only that, but he had a huge headache.

"Ah, you're up." The husky trademark voice of Lust followed the sound of the door closing. Envy looked wearily at her, not saying a word. "You were out for a while. How do you feel?" He winced, everything small sound only served to aggravate the pain.

"Been better." He muttered, grabbing his cranium delicately. "How long was I out?" She put a pensive finger to her chin. "Today makes a complete week." If he had been drinking water, he would have done the perfect spit-take. "An entire WEEK? What the fuck?" He grabbed his head in pain, eyes shut tightly. Even his own yells made his head pulse. "Ugh, bad idea to scream. I have a killer headache. "

"Hmm." The back of her hand pressed itself against his forehead. He stiffened at her touch. "Your fever went down, you can't be that bad. Want me to make you ginger tea?" She offered. Envy looked at her like if she had grown two separate heads. "It alleviates aches." Lust added, and starting heading for the door. "I'll start boiling the water-"

"What did you tell him?" The green haired half-homunculus interrupted her, halting her steps. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, and sighed, returning to his side and sitting on the chair beside the bed. Her black hair covered her face as she hung her head for a couple of seconds, then lifted it to meet his eyes. "What else could I tell him? I said you were my mentally unstable brother. " His eyes rolled. Figures she would say something like that. "Which, by the way, isn't that far from the truth..." She trailed off.

"Hardy, har, har. You're hilarious, Lust."

"He's gonna call you Maes, though." To this comment, he immediately whipped his head to her. "_What?" _She shook her head. "I had to do it. You didn't really expect me to tell him your real name was Envy, did you?" He wanted to keep arguing with her, but he knew she was right. It was no use of even asking about the matter.

"..._Maes. _You couldn't have picked a _worse _possible name?" Envy grumbled sarcastically. She scoffed. "I had forgotten about your endless complaining. " Lust retorted, rolling her eyes again. "And can your house be ANY colder? I'm freezing my fucking butt off!" He yelled angrily, still wrapped tightly in the blanket like a cocoon. She licked her lips slowly. His eyes were trained on her mouth like if his life depended on it.

"Welcome to Drachma." She replied sardonically. He extended a hand to her. "By the way, I would like my shirt back." One sole finger rose up, wagging condescendingly. "I need to change the bandages every four to six hours and I can't do that if you have the shirt on. If you want to remove it with your injury, be my guest. But I will NOT help you, and you'll take a god-awful time trying to do it by yourself. Do you have ANY idea how long I took taking off that loathsome fabric?! It's like it's _painted _on!" Envy couldn't help snicker.

"Damn woman, don't get your panties in a bunch. Fine, I'll be like this," He pointed to his bare chest. "All the time. That's what you want isn't it? To admire my awesome body?" His cheeky grin was seriously starting to annoy her. "You're despicable."

"Oh Lust, I've always loved your sweet talk." He cooed in cheery tone, trying to rile her up on purpose. She said nothing, her face set in a scowl and her arms crossing over her chest.

"He isn't pleased, you know. " Lust said in a low voice. His head tilted to the right, waiting for her to continue. "I told him you were going to be staying with us for a couple of weeks. You don't have a place to stay around here, do you?" Her questions was ignored as Envy sighed melodramatically (again) and put a hand over his chest, right where his heart was.

"Why, Lust! I'm so touched, you really shouldn't have. " He spoke extravagantly, even putting a good show of wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. In reality however, he was seething at her comment. How dare she automatically assume that he would be out in the streets if it wasn't for his precious ex-sister!? He was more than capable of taking care of himself, he wasn't a damn baby. The fact that he actually _didn't _have a place to stay was beside the point. _Bitch._

"While you're here, I have to take a break from work to supervise you." The raven haired woman muttered. His own eyes darkened in anger. "I'm not a fucking child. I don't need _supervision_." He spat viciously at her. "Actually you do. According to what I've said, you're clinically insane and it wouldn't be exactly wise to leave an crazy man in a house alone for ten hours a day." She examined her fingernails, while telling him this, which actually managed to piss him off more.

"I actually had an argument with him for letting you stay here. He doesn't exactly like the mentally ill, and almost looked at me like if I was disgusting for having a sibling like you."

"What if I just leave?"

Her piercing crimson eyes bore into his own. "Amestris is a long way from here. And you were looking for me. I don't think you want to leave just yet." He looked away from her, sight settling on the bed beneath him. "You must be famished. You need to eat, Envy. Can you stand up?"

He scoffed at her. "Of course I can! I'm not an invalid!" He whipped the blankets from his lean form and sat at the edge of the bed. "I'll get your jacket. I don't want you to catch a cold." After she left the room, his feet lowered to touch the cold floor and the knees straightened up only to collapse to the floor. "Oof!" He wanted to scream at his legs to move but they just wouldn't budge. Man, he really needed that food.

He heard Lust's dainty footsteps approaching and then her gasp. She immediately kneeled to him and covered his body with his own jacket, making him put it on. "Are you alright?"

"I do not like this. "He said in a low voice, ignoring her question, rage in his orbs. "I can't move." Envy suddenly felt her hands touching his back and one grasped his thin-looking wrist. "Put your arm around me." She commanded in a no-nonsense tone, to which he obeyed . "I'm going to lift you up on the count of three, alright? Try your best to stand up." He didn't want to look at her, he felt too embarrassed to even direct his vision in her way.

"One, two, three!" With her unnaturally powerful strength, she hoisted him up to standing position all the while her right hand was firmly placed on his waist in order to ensure that he wouldn't fall. All the while this was happening, Envy's face was painted in a glare. Not at her, she knew but at everything in general. This situation.

"We're going to walk to the kitchen. I have dinner cooking, and I made chocolate parfaits for dessert."

She smiled, turning her head to him, almost like she was waiting for approval. Envy only bit his lip at her words. Lust was trying to talk to him, trying to make him comfortable, trying to make him _happy_. Why?

And she never answered his question.

_Why are you being so nice to me?_

_. _

* * *

NOTE: By Lust's comment for the mentally ill, it is for a reason. In the 1910's, these people didn't have the best psychiatric treatment around and everyone treated them like dogs. It was almost a taboo to have a mental illness, and to be associated with them was also frowned upon.

_*All across the seven seas,  
everyone can suck on these nuts, _

_God in heaven please!*_


	15. Cleanse Me

_*money on my mind,  
telling me they're apologizing,  
running out of time.,*_

-strong sexual content. Rated **M-**

* * *

.

.

Her prison could have been worse, she reasoned. Beneath her was a dirty cement floor, and around her, it was pitch-black. The stairs leading up to the exiting door were old and splintered. The basement was practically empty, with only a lone wooden table in the far right corner and some random metal scraps scattered around. He deliberately moved her away to all of the materials she normally had for automail and could utilize, as well as keeping her in complete darkness.

There _was _a light bulb around here somewhere but she couldn't even move two inches because of the heavy chains, much less try and look for it. The only time the weak light shone in the room was when her captor came and 'graced' her with his presence. After asking about his family the first time, he left the room and she was alone for the remainder of the day. Her house was completely silent for the long stretching hours. The day after that, he came back, Winry guessing in the mid-afternoon, with a piece of stale bread and a measly glass of slightly dirty water. This was his routine, coming to feed her once a day for almost two weeks and she was sick of seeing his face.

The only thing he did when he came was taunt her, make fun of her appearance and dwindling weight, poke at her greatest insecurities and make her doubt if her relationship with Edward was ever meaningful.

_"I mean, if the fullmetal runt really loved you, he wouldn't be over there in Creta studying__ something he can't even utilize." __He whispered to her lying form with a sneer._

_"He would be here with you, with the duty to never let anything happen to you. But I guess, he just doesn't give a shit now, does he?" __The girl gave him her back, pretending like she was ignoring him. __She really tried to block out his hurtful comments, but they still stung her heart greatly, since she actually had this same exact thought countless of times before. Winry tried to blink back tears, unknown to the sin behind her._

_"All I'm saying is," He continued on, almost taking a pitying tone in his voice. "He probably doesn't even do anything over there. Studying alchemy is just his excuse to get out and not commit, and so he won't have to face you. I'm sorry to have to break it to you, sweetheart, but-" The tears were now streaming freely like rivers._

_"He never loved you."_

The door opened once more and Winry swore under her breath.

It was him.

"Well, good morning sunshine! You sure look happy to see me," Envy cooed, his words dripping with honey and his lips curled into a large grin. The nauseating tone of his voice made her migraine worsen, and she slowly rose her two shackled hands to her head, massaging her temples painstakingly. His dainty footsteps grew nearer to her sitting form, and she resisted from looking at the monster that has been making her life a living hell. A musical chuckle came out of his mouth.

Winry turned to glower at him murderously, internally cursing him with every swear word and profanity she knew. Never ending shivers overtook her body, caused by the cold air permeating the dark basement, and wished the man could have the decency to at least give her a blanket, since he did rip off her white tank top leaving her in nothing but a scanty bra. After seeing her tremble and curse the cold, you think he would at least bring her a top! Her thoughts were cut short as the green-haired man invaded her space, crouching to her level. Once again, her head whipped to the other side, not wanting him to see the fear in her tired eyes. He was so close she could feel his hot breath on the nape of her neck. Suddenly, she felt his cold fingers touching her the still-bloody words carved into her chest and she hissed, backing away as far as she could. His hand twitched and shot out at her arm, gripping it forcibly .

"Don't move." He spoke harshly, his eyes narrowing.

Winry knew better than to blatantly disobey his order, not to mention she was so weak she could barely move her arm, so she shut her eyes tight and let Envy do as he pleased._"Asshole..."_ Her tight-lipped response only managed to amuse Envy even more. The stinging pain that accompanied with his ministrations was probably nothing compared to what he was going to do any minute. She wondered to herself if he was going to rip up the barely healing clots of the lacerations to make her suffer, and braced herself for the impact. However, it never came. Instead, the pressure alleviated, his fingers got a bit softer, and she opened one cerulean eye to see what exactly he was going to do. She was a bit surprised to not see him grinning diabolically at her, but analyzing the wound up close, almost like a doctor diagnosing a patient.

"Tsk, tsk. You don't heal quickly do you? This is absolutely disgusting." He spoke, eyeing her chest intensely. It was red, swollen and from all the pus coming out of the** _B_** and the **_T_**, it was probably infected. "What do you expect? You carved me up like a wooden doll, _sick_ bastard." She hissed back venomously and Envy grabbed her shoulders unexpectedly, now the usual grin on his features, which made her gasp in surprise. He twisted her upper torso until her naked back was in sight and was dismayed to find the wound there much worse. All of the letters were absolutely horrid, with greenish white pus leaking and there was absolutely no sight of clotting or any healing whatsoever. Most likely because she couldn't bear the pain of her wound and always pressed her back to the stone wall, trying to find some relief by the cold concrete. What an imbecile.

"Now I'm going to have to disinfect-" A loud rumbling startled both of them. Winry hung her head, her cheeks red with embarrassment and she cradled her stomach as an unanswered plea of silence.

He snickered. "You must be hungry."

"No shit, Sherlock, all you do is give me a miserable piece of stale bread and call it a fucking day." Winry couldn't stop the words from spilling over sarcastically, her glare intensifying by the second. It was like only Envy possessed the ability to make a new, ruder and MUCH more foul-mouthed Winry come out as soon as he presented himself. "Oooo, feisty." The dark-haired man purred at her and then chuckled, his eyes dancing with amusement. She bared her teeth in response, a deep guttural growl rising from her throat while he retracted, standing up.

"Wait right here-"He stopped his sentence and let out another snicker. "Oh, that's true, you don't have a choice." He left the room, his laughter echoing in her head. Holy crap. He asked her if she was hungry and told her to wait! Was he actually going to feed her _for real__? _She didn't want to become too hopeful, since he'd probably trick her and make her happy only to bring her down again when he came back empty-handed. Or worse, he could start eating in front of her.

_Do homunculi even eat?_ She wondered to herself while struggled a little bit more with her chains, before giving up and lying down sideways on the cold floor, waiting for him to come back. After all, it was all she could do. That and think to herself about what she _really _knew about him.

Something didn't quite add up. The girl noted that when she hit his head with her wrench, his wound didn't instantly regenerate. When Ed was still home, he told her a homunculi's injury vanishes almost instantly because of their core; the philosopher's stone. But Envy's didn't heal that time, she knew because the rivulets of blood trickled down the side of his face, right beside his right eye. In fact, even right now, she know the gash was still present. Yesterday, he lowered his head, deep in thought, while sitting on the chair. The dark emerald hair hid it well, but not enough. She could still make out the gash beneath his thick hair, and she could tell it was bleeding since his hand always was stained in red since he had a habit of touching his hair when he would think.. She still heard Envy still whine and gripe about the pain when he thought she was too far to listen in. Her own mind took her back for a while, as a memory emerged like a movie.

___The Rockbell house was completely silent, and the dawn sky barely starting to lighten to show a hint of morning. __The two were currently in the kitchen, the soothing sounds of night surrounding them. Alphonse was still asleep for the third day in a row, since his body was still very atrophied from barely coming back from the Gate._

_"Envy was dangerous. Not only could he change into any person he wanted to, whether they ever existed or not, but he could change parts of his body and make them into a weapon." Edward stated with a far-off look in his face, almost nostalgic-looking. __After pestering him to tell her all of his troublesome adventures while he was away from home, he __finally gave in around evening the first day. This was the second day at night, and he still wasn't finished._

_A good six hours later that same night, here they still were and Edward still talking, sitting at the wooden table. __After describing all of the other Deadly Sins he encountered, he finally mentioned Envy. It seemed like he left him to the very last to piss her off or add suspense to the story. He was a very animated storyteller, she thought to herself amusingly._

_"Was he the worst one?" Winry asked her childhood friend curiously._

_He looked at her with a hauntingly disturbing expression in his gold eyes and she knew her answer. "He can turn his finger into a knife and slit your throat with it, only because he feels like it. He'll make the last face you'll ever see the one you love most, just to make your death the worst one possible. Envy had no reason, no logic. He was simply psychotic. He cared for no one, and the world is a hundred times better with him dead." __The girl flinched winced internally at his harsh words. Though this Envy character sounded like a detestable person, to say that the world was better off without him seemed too cruel._

_But Winry still didn't even know who really caused the Civil War and took Mae Hughes life..._

_"Did you kill him?" She asked quietly. "No." He snapped at her immediately. __"The coward killed himself." __She gasped, a characteristic feeling of sadness grasping her heart. "That's...horrible." She said without thinking, and Edward stood up abruptly with a glare. "No it isn't. Believe me, Winry, if you knew him, you know that it was for humanity's sake that the monster died." _

_Though Winry still was in shock at the awful words spewing out of the ex-alchemist's mouth, she saw a sadness in his amber eyes. Like if he didn't really believe his own phrases to the full extent. Like, if maybe, he also found it sad that the poor little green monster resorted to the saddest cry for help to end it all._

Afterwards a couple of days later, Winry found herself silently agreeing with Ed's statement, all still in shock of his actions. All of the horrible, heinous atrocities he committed? How in the world could someone so _evil _exist? It was like he came from hell itself. Now, the bruised and battered girl was completely sure that her captor was not a demon or even _like _the Devil.

He WAS the Devil.

How in the world did she ever find it in her to sympathize with HIM?! Her blue eyes widened suddenly. Change body parts into a weapon... That's right, he _could_ shape shift his arm into a blade if he wanted to! So why did he use a butter knife on her chest and back when he was punishing her? Hmm. That's certainly strange. What could be his reason?

. .

Winry's offer in the beginning still rang in his head, irritating him to no end. The refrigerator door opened for him to retrieve bread and some ham. Ah what the hell, he took out the cheese too. As he put the edibles on the kitchen table, his mind was going into overdrive. He desperately wanted to know what the girl knew about him and his kind, but more importantly, his past. Does she know he died? Does she know where he comes from? His purpose, his motives?

If he had taken up her initial suggestion, he might be able to figure it out, but he _could_ not accept it. It was too suspicious of his part, too uncharacteristic of him. He couldn't possibly be comfortable conversing with his hostage in such an... _uncruel _way. Well, it wouldn't be exactly a friendly exchange of words, more like he would _pretend _the part so he could get the means to an end. Purely professional. But...why in the hell does she even want to know anything about him?! From how he treated her when she got mouthy with him, he was expecting her to cower at the mere sound of his name, not try and figure his past and life. Something was off about her, he could feel it as an instinct. _She's planning something, I know it. But what could it be?_

As he retrieved a clean knife from the wooden kitchen drawer to cut up the cheese, he had another wondering thought. On the fourth day, Envy was almost positively sure he finally accomplished breaking her. He had been waiting for that moment since the first day she was bound, when the victims's souls finally shattered, it was the turning point of struggles. Most of them broke before the 24 hours were even over. Some lasted to a day and a half, if they were strong enough. But, all in all, they all were in the same position. Complete and utter defeat. They no longer fought him but still cried themselves to sleep each day. Their heart had turned completely black with affliction. It made his work a lot more easier when his victims were complacent. He was horribly mistaken however, when he glanced at her eyes after practically pummeling her to death with words more venomous than a snake, and saw that smoldering determination simmering beneath the ocean blue orbs. No soul-crushing anguish or despair. Just rage-fueled determination. Her spirit wasn't broken, he knew that she was going to challenge him every step of the way. He huffed arrogantly, anger flooding his senses.

The girl was _supposed _to be crying her little eyes out, because of his constant insults and taunts to her! Truth to be told, every time he told she was disgusting and unappealing was a lie, but the biggest lie humans have told themselves over and over was '_sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'. _So far however, she seemed unfazed. After the butter knife incident, he hasn't seen one lone tear. Devoid of absolutely any feelings, except for the anger always burning in her eyes.

Envy didn't care for rage, it didn't please him like this particular human's tears did. He wanted to see her in that expression she had the first two days! He wanted to hear her beautiful cries, he wanted to see her blue-turned dull grey eyes because of deep depression. He wanted to make her grovel for redemption, for clemency, for death. But she displayed nothing. Absolutely nothing! Envy snarled, and shook his head furiously.

She was doing this on purpose. _She knows that I want to see her cry, I want to see her sorrow. And she's holding it in until I leave, just to piss me off._

It was really an ingenious trick really. Acting like an desensitized doll in order to fuck with his mind and take away his satisfaction? The girl was smarter than he thought. She was a dangerous one, he realized right away. He had to keep extra precautions her. She wasn't like the others who gave him what he wanted willingly; the hopelessness in the victims' eyes, the weak pathetic pleads for him to stop which only served for him as a fuel to keep going, all of that was gone. It was her own twisted way of torturing him.

_The_ _conniving little bitch! She thinks she can fuck with me?! Me, Envy?!_

He fumed to himself while stacking the meat and cheese on top of the bread. As he started to walk towards the girl directions, plate in hand, he mused to himself. _She probably thinks that if she doesn't react, I'll sooner or later stop. Huh, fat chance! It's not like I can hit her too much for fun, the pain just boomerangs to me. Ugh, definitely not wanting that to happen again.__  
_

He remembered when he almost passed out in pain when he carved her out like a turkey; the feeling of an invisible knife digging into his own skin, the muscles shredding only in sensation, not in real life. He did manage to keep feign his normal sadistic composition in front of Winry's tearful eyes, but he was so close to losing it. So no. He won't stop tormenting her until she was a hollow shell of herself. He was not going to back down from the challenge, he needed to see her broken. But he wasn't going to try today. Today, the pain in his back and chest would hopefully lessen.

The blonde beauty shielded her eyes from the sudden appearance of light and immediately started to salivate at what he currently held in his hands, a delectable-looking ham and cheese sandwich. She was practically jumping for joy since she was going to eat something to actually staunch her hunger, and had the impulsive wish to hug Envy. The wish immediately dissipated when she, seconds later, acknowledged that it was _his _fault she was starving. She also wanted to ask him why he decided to bring her good food, but she didn't want to risk him getting angry and taking the plate away. Either he was annoyed at the incessant growling of her stomach that could probably be heard miles away, or he was actually trying to be _nice _to her. If not for the horrible situation she was right now, she would have burst out laughing at the second option. Him being nice to anyone was actually impossible to even fathom, much less happen in real life. The minute she would see Envy be civil to anyone at all, was the day that hell would quite literally freeze over.

Without one word spoken, he placed the plate in front of her and sat down on the same chair in front of her, watching her. Winry did not waste two seconds devouring the meal. In fact, sometimes Envy thought he saw her not even chewing the food, just swallowing it whole. As she ate the final piece, the feeling of hunger enveloping Envy's stomach dissolved. He gave a sigh of relief. At last! The awful churning in his abdomen subsided. Not only did he feel her pain that he directly caused, but also any unpleasant physical feelings that he INDIRECTLY caused. He took notice of this when he was constantly raving of hunger with each passing day, and he would still eat, and still feel the same. Finally, he realized the hunger wasn't his. It was Winry's.

"Could I have some water, please?" She asked meekly, and he immediately left to get her water. The parching dry sensation prickling in his throat was more than enough incentive to get her a glass as soon as possible. Winry, who obviously did not know how her suffering was reciprocated, was bit taken back at the quickness of his steps, and to make her feel better. She even felt confused. _What was going on? He's never been so eager to get me anything! _Winry's heart bloomed in hope.

_Maybe he's tired of having me around and will let me go?_

The thought itself was absurd, but she still couldn't help feeling even a little grateful to the half-homunculus. As soon as he brought the glass of actually sparkling clean water, she downed it greedily, not noticing how Envy's hand slid down his throat and his posture slumped in appeasement. Though that little problem was over, there still one last thing...

"Alright, the wounds are looking way too ripe." He retorted in a surly fashion, while twisting her upper torso again to eye the infected lesion. She stiffened to his abrupt touch and tried to pull away, feeling suffocated by his thick green hair. "It needs to be disinfected right away, or risk it worsening." Envy continued, his tone blase and uncaring. His hands tightened around her waist suspiciously, and she saw a hint of a small grin playing on his lips.

"UGH, let go you freak!" Winry yelled, shutting her eyes tight. The warmth that had been present on her hips were gone and she heard his hands clapping together. A blue light that her eyes recognized from beneath the lids made her gasp, a bit afraid of what he was going with this. Her throbbing wrists felt unusually less restrained. Her blue orbs opened to see that the metal chains that connected her wrists and ankles to the cement ground had broken clean off from the steel handle.

_I didn't tell him I needed to go to the bathroom, so why..._

Envy suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up on his shoulder, clambering up the basement ladder. The door opened and Winry had the same instinct to flee, since she wasn't bound by the floor anymore, but she knew it was useless. Envy learned from the first time he let her go she could take care of her _business _that he had to have a iron grip on the chains and have her in his arms while going to the bathroom or else risking her possible escape. As if her tormentor read her mind, he cackled loudly and stated. "It's not use, Blondie. You ain't getting away from me."

Even though she DID know there was no use in trying to get away, she still would not succumb to his actions without a fight.

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME!" The food served only as fuel for her attack, with her legs kicking ferociously and her hands were curled up into fists and pounding at his back, as an attempt to hurt him. Winry wasn't stupid, however. The homunculus was too tough for a small girl's hits. It probably didn't even serve to tickle him...

Envy gritted his teeth while walking. This girl was _really _trying his patience. Before, when he had his stone, her pathetic little kicks and punches wouldn't even be worth mentioning, but right now he could actually feel bruises forming. The seemingly dainty little mechanic certainly packed a wallop. He couldn't let this be known that her ministrations actually _did _hurt, hell, he didn't even want to admit it to himself! With one arm still holding her thighs down to his chest, and the other arm holding the chains, he rose his shoulders harshly against her abdomen. Her whole body moved with him and she squeaked, the air almost getting knocked out of her stomach. "Calm down, will ya? I'm trying to do you a favor in closing the wound." He spat annoyingly at her, his head slightly turned to his back in order to see her angered flushed face.

"Yeah, sure.. the wounds that YOU caused?" She shot back bitingly, also turning her head completely to give him a deadly glare. He shifted position and started to step up the Rockbell staircase, which was very uncomfortable for the girl draped over his shoulder. Finally, the stairs were over and he opened the bathroom door, dumping the girl on the hard tile floor. Winry glowered at him one last time for being so insensitive, and tried to get up on her own accord.

As she stood up, she noted that Envy let himself in the bathroom as well, his hand on the doorknob, slowly locking it. He cursed himself under his breath, a wave of fresh pain hitting his body, probably from Winry's still burning wounds.

The fear gripped her heart again as she saw him slowly walk to her. She didn't know why, but she always had a intrinsic phobia of men trying to take advantage of her since she was about 10 years old. Oh yeah that's right, one sleaze-bag who called himself her client tried to make her do things, which made her traumatized for life.

She subconsciously took a few steps back, until the heels of her feet hit the porcelain coating of the cast iron bath tub. She knew the panic shouldn't set in so quickly, after all he did say he was going to take care of her wounds. He probably wasn't even interested in her like that, he did tell her every chance he got that she was ugly and unattractive. Maybe her panic rose because she was stuck in such a closed space within him, and his dark eyes analyzed every single aspect of her body. Envy had his head tilted to the side, not really knowing what was causing this strange behavior. Then his large trademark grin appeared as he caught the flicker of fear and consternation pass quickly through her eyes but was immediately extinguished. The girl was still afraid of him, she just didn't want to show to him. Something right now caused her enough apprehension to temporarily let her guard down and show her true emotions.

Well then...

Maybe he could coax that look back again, maybe he could get her to cry for him, to drown her world in anguish in another way. Insulting her clearly didn't work all that well, so there may be other _methods_. He saw her arm, subconsciously tugging at the hem of her skirt, signaling her anxiety. Her other arm was across her chest, as if trying to protect herself from any veering eyes. By the second, his smirk grew broader. He closed the distance between them, close enough to hear the girl's staccato breaths. Winry involuntarily started to shake, only a little. But enough for Envy to confirm what he needed to do. In truth, he really didn't have this planned, but the opportunity of making her suffer was there for the taking, however, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

Winry noted with alarm that his eyes grew unexpectedly gleeful, like if he discovered something so wondrous it was worth mentioning to everyone. _Something's wrong. _She thought to herself as Envy started to chuckle silently, his arm slowly wrapping itself around her hips. She stiffened at his touch, trying to shy away from him.

_What is he trying to do?_

She gasped when his hand rested itself on her plumb bottom.

Envy relished the slowly-growing glassiness in her ocean-colored eyes, knowing he was going in the right direction. Winry's heart beat was beating frantically and she was this close to crying. But she couldn't. She couldn't let him get away with it. In a fraction of a second, the fear was forced into a rage, and she pushed her small hands to his chest as an effort to distance herself from the half-homunculus.

"What in HELL do you think you're doing?" She demanded, enraged, looking up to meet Envy's eyes.

His horrid smile never failed to leave his mouth, and his hand started to move to the hook-and-eye zipper in the back of her navy-blue skirt. Immediately, the fear quadrupled in her eyes, the ruthlessness within them completely gone. YES! This was working! She could act all tough and mighty in any other setting, but _this_ shook her to her core. In an instant, two fingers grasped the thin slider and pulled the zipper completely open.

"EEP!" Winry immediately grasped her skirt, in order for it to maintain in place, but of course he would have none of that.

With a swift tug, the skirt ripped from its hems and ended up in the floor as a piece of useless fabric. Now Winry was only clad in matching blackened lace bra and panties, with her big worker boots on. Tch. The masculine footwear ruined the image, he had to fix that. She was still desperately trying to cover herself up with her hands, but since he still had a firm grasp on her chains, he pulled down until she was forced to almost kneel.

He followed after her, smiling.

"Sit." He ordered, and was delighted to find out her eyes didn't banish her panic like all of the other times. It stayed in her, like a disease pestering within. It was terrific! She had no other choice but to comply, and her fear was so suffocating, she couldn't even insult him or offer one of her snappy remarks. With another pull on the ankle chains, her legs reluctantly straightened on the floor. She still had no idea what in the world was going on in that warped head of his, apprehensive of his every move. He hovered over her, and pulled off her left boot with his free had, the right boot following quickly.

He was too quick for her to stop it, and she couldn't even if she wanted . The white socks were also disposed of rapidly, her now bare feet starting to tremble with the rest of her body. He stood up haughtily over her, eyeing her, scrutinizing her- -God, why can't that awful grin on his face ever disappear! He folded his arms knowingly, and opened his mouth.

"Take your bra off."

The harsh bluntness of his command was Winry's wake up call. It was when she finally had the horrible realization of what he was planning to do with her.

_Oh, God._

"No," She couldn't help but say fearfully, her resolve rapidly dissipating. The chains wrapped around his hand loosened so she could finally use her arms, but Winry could not move a single finger. Her back was pressed against the cold surface wall of the bathtub with more strength than ever before. He sighed, exasperated at her inability to react and he smiled again.

"-or I will." Envy's teeth gleamed in his leering smirk.

_Please, please don't..._

It grew, he could see it. The fear grew with his words, the tears were threatening to spill. Winry was paralyzed, looking past the sin's smile, too petrified to even open her mouth. She then heard his tongue click in his mouth, and bit her own lip, trying to keep her internal begs and pleads to herself.

"Tsk, tsk, you sure are a slow one. Blondie. " He picked up her wrist chains from the floor and pulled them close to his chest, kneeling on the tiles right in front of her. Abruptly, his arm shot out to the middle of her chest, getting a good grip on the thin girdle that joined her bra together. Her breathing was so ragged, it could have been considered she was suffering from bronchitis.

"I warned ya." He cruelly ripped the brassiere from the girl's bust.

_Snap. _The bra was thrown carelessly on the floor. She screamed.

"NO!"

Her courage broke.

"Please, don't do this to me-" Winry began to beg pathetically, tears freely roaming all over her face, trying to cover her bare chest. Envy laughed loudly, savoring her expression. This is what he wanted to see. Who knew it would be so easy? His strength on her bondage was more than enough to make her arms press against his chest, not cover her own. He directed his vision from her eyes to Winry's newly uncovered skin and his expression turned to a stupor.

Wow. Just wow.

That's all he could formulate in his mind. Her breasts were not too large, not too small...wonderfully...exactly proportionate to her body. He had the strange urge to touch them, which startled him. Was he admiring a _human _girl's body? He never in his two hundred years of life checked out _anyone_, until he became half-human (he had concluded the fact a while ago) and obviously a lot of human hormones were added in the mix. Even then, he wasn't too keen on it, he only checked out Lust, because...well, who could blame him? Lust _was_ Lust. Why now this girl? He didn't like it one bit.

"I'll behave, I'll be good-" Her strangled pleads sent wonderful chills again, and Envy felt something stir. His eyes pried away from her abundant chest, and looked down at his own body. His original form had _something_ added to make him a male, and the organ was reacting in such a way that puzzled him. Well, that's just plain weird. With a flick of his eyes, he made it disappear in order to keep distractions at bay.

Winry still sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks like never ending rivers. His hand shot out again and teared away the panties from her hips, leaving her utterly exposed to him. Her ear-splitting screaming began at this point, trashing around violently. "STOP, STOP!" She was screaming so loud, for everyone at least a mile away to hear. He actually gave out a loud sigh in contentment, because of it. Though he would NEVER admit it out loud, the girl was quite good-looking, with her pale (once) flawless skin, shapely hips, her wondrous bust, and...eh?

So that's how those things looked like in real life! He'd only seen them drawn in anatomy books, so this was quite a revelation to him. Envy tilted his head to the right in curiosity, asking himself if his was equally as pink. As he was about to pull his skort to the front and make his male part appear again to check the color, he suddenly snapped out of it. _What the hell are you doing?! Focus on what you came her for, dolt. _

Envy grew close to her sobbing, shaking form and snaked his arm under the crook of her knees, the other arm resting on her shoulder. Her silent sobs turned into petrified wails, she knew what was coming, she knew what he was going to do. There was nothing she could do to stop it, she knew, no matter how she groveled at him. He was too strong for her, too damn evil. He probably enjoyed her pitiful display more than ever. Envy stood up suddenly, carrying the girl bridal style.

"Nononono, I will NOT let you take me!" Winry screeched still trying to regain her dignity. She shut her eyes tight for an instant and opened them, staring intently at the sin that carried her. Envy looked at the furious girl in his arms blankly, and threw his head back in laughter. He laughed and laughed for about three more minutes, and she just glowered at him murderously. He was making fun of her, now was he?

"_Take _you?" He managed to choke out in between cackles. "What in the world are you _blathering_ about, human?! I'm gonna make you take a shower!" His laughter was now on the verge of being uproarious.

"W-What?"

"You fucking reek to the high heavens!"

After this statement, he laughed heartily once more as if what she said was the funniest damn joke ever invented. Winry looked at him, bewilderment clear in her blue eyes. She stared at him for quite a while, silence engulfing the two.

"Wait. I thought you were- -You're not gonna..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish her question. Her cheeks turned a bright scarlet red, and she buried her head into the nook of his neck, too humiliated to look at him straight in the eyes.

"Nope! You just really needed that bath." He replied cheerfully and set her in the large bathtub. Winry's eyes were still filled with confusion, and she tucked in her knees to her chest, subconsciously trying to protect herself . Though all of this was rather puzzling, she had to admit to herself that this was true. After two weeks of absolutely no hygiene, which was NOT her fault, she was so filthy she could barely stand it herself. Her once soft and silky hair turned into a knotted greasy matted mess. Her skin felt oily to the touch and she felt like she had a thin layer of grime and dirt on her body. Not only that but she really did smell _awful._

Winry never knew that he noticed it as well. _Well, that's even more embarrassing._

She narrowed her eyes, indignantly. "Well you should have said something..." Winry mumbled under her breath, still unable to look at him in the eye. Envy messed with the knobs until lukewarm water started to fill the tub. As soon as the water was at the desired height, he got the nearest bar of soap and rubbed together with his two hands, until it become a thick foam. He then started to lather the soap onto Winry's shoulder, and the girl kept looking at him in stupefied shock. Was he actually going to _bathe _her?

"Don't get any stupid ideas, blondie. You can't do this with the cuffs on, and I am not risking taking them off. And I _will not_ stand another day with you and your nasty B.O." She gasped, horrified at his crude language and childishly splashed some water.

"SHUT UP! It's not like I didn't WANT to take a bath! I _am _a hostage, if you didn't notice." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. His eyes traveled down to her pushed-up breasts, clearly not paying attention. Winry shivered, noticing him staring and finally got the courage to glare at him straight on. "Stop staring at my boobs." He merely looked at her as if he wasn't even aware of it. Immediately his startled expression transitioned into a look of arrogance.

"Oh please. You should be grateful that someone at _least _looks at you. We all know Fullmetal won't!" Okay, that hurt her. "I thought I was _unattractive._"

"I was comparing your tits to a much more pleasing sight, like.. hmmm, a slaughtered pig?" He grinned. She snarled at him, his insults growing each time more vicious but immediately retorted back confidently. "I wasn't aware necrophilia and bestiality was your thing. I must say... it fits you." The grin fell from his face in an instant, and he scowled at her. She crossed her arms again, with a lone eyebrow raised, challenging him to make a better comeback.

After ten seconds of Envy not saying anything, she shot back again. "What, can't say anything? That's what I thought!" She, for the first time in the entire two weeks she had been in this hell, threw her head back and laughed fully. "You _lose _and I _win_!" The sin seethed at her obvious display of victory, and closed his eyes in impatience.

"Shut up girl or I will-"

"I'm a winner, see my prize, you're the loser who sits and cries-OWWW!"

Winry shrieked, more in shock than pain. Envy was grinning from ear to ear, with his index finger and thumb yanking hard on one of her nipples. "OKAY, OKAY YOU WIN! Stop it!" She screeched while trying to slap his hand away from her bud.

"You sure? You seem to be enjoying it."

"NO, I don't, it hurts, you asshole!"

"Well, all the more reason to keep on doing it then. After all, according to you, I am a sadistic bastard." He laughed at her mockingly, and she splashed more water at him furiously. After he released her, he began to wash her once more, now moving to her chest to clean the first wound. She at first reacted accordingly, with her hands immediately covering herself. "What in the world do you think you are _doing?__" _Envy sighed, not really wanting to deal with this so many times. With one hard tug on her shackles, her chest was uncovered and he went right to work. The blonde girl was certainly not pleased, muttering all types of obscenities at him continuously. "Ow, it stings!" She complained. "Would it kill you to be a BIT more gentle?"

"Hey, it needs to be cleaned. Stop being such a whiny baby. Now, hold your breath!"

"Wha-UGHH GlUB GLUB!"

Winry's head was submerged under the water, as Envy thoroughly worked his soapy fingers in her hair. After many attempts to calm her flailing arms and accidentally hitting him right in the eye, he decided that it was time to let her breath a little. Before she could even shout at him for almost killing her, he grabbed one of her thin arms and flipped her around to her stomach. Instinctively, her hands shot out from under her, before she collided face-first with the murky water. The stinging sensation of soap touching the infected lesions on her back was horrible and she snapped at him for being so harsh.

After many more uncomfortable moments and a good half-an hour later, Winry was finally clean.

Envy made sure that he didn't miss a single spot. She shuddered as Envy washed his hands of the soap and reached over to her, his arms reaching under her like last time. He hoisted her up again in bridal style, not caring that she was still soaking wet. He probably couldn't get any more wet, anyways.

With all the jerky movements Winry was doing all through-out her cleansing session, it almost seemed like he joined her. "You know, I can walk on my own accord." She protested. her head raised to him as he hoisted her up again to his shoulder and immediately depositing her on the surface of the sink.

"God, do you _ever _shut up?" Envy muttered while rummaging by the medicine cabinet, trying to find antiseptic and maybe some string and needles. As soon as he found the rubbing alcohol, he wasted no time in dumping half of the bottle on her chest, and the other half on her back which of course made her yelp in the pain. He grunted and painstakingly pierced the needle in her skin as gently as possible. It still hurt her, he knew because he felt it, but it was much less. Winry was astonished at his soft touches. It was like in the time of two or three hours, he completely changed! He wasn't hitting her or ruthlessly making fun of her (or at least, not that much).

He was _taking care of her_.

Granted, it's not like he's turning over a new leaf since he was still very rude and vicious, but it was a huge step forward. Winry only had one question in her mind while he continued on with his role of playing doctor. "Why are you doing this?" She didn't realize she voiced her question out loud. Envy stiffened, but he just kept treating her cuts like if she didn't even open her mouth.

They both were completely silent, each mind in a turbulence of its own.

.

.

* * *

_*All that money, and the money is gone,.  
Better slow down, she'll feel it in the morning.*_


	16. Heartless

_*As i look into my diamond-encrusted ring,_  
_I'm thinking no man should have all that power,.*_

* * *

.

The tension in the dining room was so thick, it could have been cut with a kitchen knife.

Lust could not figure out why there was such a strong animosity between her husband and supposed brother, but she knew it was so stifling, she could practically choke on it. The raven-haired woman had appeared with Envy draped on her shoulder, leaning on her heavily because of his emaciated state, which oddly enough made Jakob scowl as if displeased.

She was not surprised to see Envy with the same expression directed right at him. "Solaris, you should have asked for my help," The man began to say, although it was clear that he had no desire to assist the injured sin. He noted the cynical undertone of his words, and involuntarily bared his teeth at Jakob.

"Lust doesn't _need_ your help." Envy immediately retorted sarcastically. He was still draped over the pale woman but his sharp eyes were focused on the blue ones of the other man. "You may not think so, but she's stronger than she looks." He finished, with a smug air in his features. In response, the other stayed quiet, his teeth clenched in irritation at the implied insult.

She then felt the heat of her ex-sibling's body grow warmer, especially since he didn't have his top on, as he grew closer to her. He put his lips near her ear, almost burying his face in her soft black hair, as if telling her a secret.

"Tell that dumb ass to stop gawking at me like some freak show or I'll _crush_ him like the SCUM he is." Envy whispered heatedly. The trio finally sat down at the large oval dining table, both men still subtly glaring at each other every once in a while. Jakob was at the head of the dark-wooden table, with his wife at the right (acting as a mediator) and Envy to her left.

Truth to be told, Lust was not looking forward to retrieving supper. She would leave the two males alone, for a small time, mind you, but alone nonetheless. It was like watching a pair bristled dogs growling at each other, hair sticking straight up in the neck and waiting for the precise moment to attack. She sighed, and looked at crystalline eyes of her husband for a moment before standing up and walking reluctantly to the kitchen. Hopefully, both of them had the decency to behave themselves for at least a couple of seconds.

If the silence was awkward when Lust was still around, it incremented ten-fold the minute the left.

Both men were scowling, and trying not to look at one another but it was quite uncomfortable and Jakob knew that it would make Solaris unhappy if she saw them acting like this. For her, he would suck it up...even his dignity. "Look, Maes. I'm sorry about shooting you back there, I was-"

"FIRST of all, my name is _not _Maes. It's Envy. Got it? Second, Lust is lying through her teeth. She's not my sister, but a co-worker from the past two centuries that just happens to be confused at the moment. Third, do NOT assume you and me will be all buddy-buddy because I know you don't give a _shit _about shooting me, and just want to be a kiss-ass to your 'wife' " The green haired sin emphasized the last word mockingly, even having the audacity to make quotation signs with his fingers.

"And lastly, don't think I'm onto your little plan to kick me out. But you know what? I'm not leaving until I freaking feel like it." The apology Jakob planned in his mind flew out the window. " Look." The dark-haired man spoke with an authoritative voice, channeling his anger down to a simmering temperature. The voice was deep and scarily resembled Mustang's one.

He immediately shut up.

"I don't know what your deal is, but you better get off your _fucking _high chair before I shoot you down from it." Envy gave him a chilling glare. "Is that a threat or a promise?" He asked tauntingly, a grin growing on his face.

"It's a fact. " Jakob hissed, not backing down from the man's dangerously flickering violet eyes.

"Then do something about it, little bitch. All bark and no bite?!"

"_The roast beef came out a little dry, love. I hope you don't mind too much._" Lust's smooth voice broke the angry words, along with the clack of her high heeled boots approaching.

The both immediately grew deathly quiet as she set in the middle of them a tray of steaming delectable-looking meat. She looked at them back and forth suspiciously, searching for any signs of conflict. Because of her distance to the table, she didn't hear the heated exchange between the two, and after seeing placid expressions on both of their faces, she came to the conclusion that they were going to act cordial towards each other...or at least try to.

Was that far from the truth..

After exhaling in relief, Lust began to cut the roast beef into thin slices and handed Envy a heaping amount (he was after all, starving) on a glossy china plate. The sin's dark eyes sparkled as he eyes his food like he was about to swallow it whole, and his stomach kept snarling away like a ravenous animal, so he decided to waste no time digging in. Jakob found the display a bit irritating to be quite frank, as he was quite sure that his wife never once offered to serve him his meal. And even if she did, he had the suspicion she wouldn't had done it so gently like she did it right now.

Lust sat herself down, letting her husband serve himself, and a silence enveloped the dining room immediately. They ate quietly, with the exception of Envy who still lacked (or just didn't care for) basic table manners and was chewing _quite _loudly, all paying great interest to their dinner. After a while, the sin grew tired of staring intently at his plate and began to look around the dining room. Like everything in his ex-sister's mansion, everything was elegant, refined and impeccable. There was absolutely nothing out of place or out of line within sight, and probably the entire house was like this.

_Who cleans it all? With a house this big, it must be like a full-time job- -_

"Envy."

Lust's firm voice broke his musings. He knew that tone of voice. Annoyed, tight-lipped, and curt. There was a possible chance he might get yelled at. "Please keep your mouth closed while eating. It is very unpleasant to see the contents of your mouth while we are eating as well and not to mention quite rude. And stop chewing so loud, you're not a damn cow." Here she goes, starting to nag on him again. He put two fingers on his temples, as he could already feel a migraine coming on.

"By the way, the eating utensils are not just for show. I recommend you use them instead of your hands." She drawled out sarcastically. He glared at her, all the while Jakob had a slight smirk on his face, enjoying the scene before him. This was just too good.

Grumbling out an angry _"Whatever the queen_ _desires"_, he took his sterling silver fork and stabbed the piece of meat viciously.

"It's already dead, don't worry." She deadpanned. "Shut up, hag."

Now that Jakob was in a considerably more happy mood, he decided to join the conversation. "So, Maes." He interjected with a grin. "You came a long way to see Solaris, from what I've heard. Any particular reason?" Envy growled in response, glowering at him murderously. "For the last time, my name is NOT Maes. Get it through your thick skull, moron." He ignored the sin's less-than-friendly reply and continued pleasantly. "And I know you have a fascination with the capital sins. My wife is an immortal sin, you say?" Envy's eye twitched in rage, and he had the impulse to tear the guy's face off. He was making fun of his mental 'illness', without even trying to hide it! In a second, the scowl disappeared. He quickly smiled and turned to his right, where Lust was sitting right next to him.

"So your boy-toy sucks ass in bed, you say?" He asked her with the most fake innocent tone he could ever muster, a tone lightly laced with malice at the same time.

"_Envy!_" Lust whispered fiercely to him. Never had she missed her ultimate spear so much as she did right now, he definitely needed a good skewering. In response, her husband just laughed light-heartily but she noted how his crystalline eyes grew dark with fury.

"You're quite the comedian, _Maes_."

"You're not so bad yourself, _Roy."_

. .

"I'm sorry Solaris, but he HAS GOT TO GO."

"Jakob, let's talk about this-"

"I know he's your brother, which I find hard to believe already, and he's got nowhere to go, but believe me when I say...if he stays in this house another minute, so help me God, I just might strangle him."

Lust sighed deeply before speaking in a smooth voice. "We can't just kick him out. Like you just said, he has absolutely _nowhere _to go. This house has _many _extra rooms and we can accommodate him just fine."

"You know this isn't about accommodation. That bastard has it out for me and I know it. Are you positively _sure_ he's related to you?" She chose not to answer that question and continued on. "In case you haven't noticed, this ridiculous rivalry the two of you have going on was started by you."

"Me?! How in the hell is this even remotely _my _fault?!"

"You shot him in the shoulder."

"I thought he was an intruder!"

"Not to mention all those cold cynical expressions and eye rolls you make when he's near or I even mention him to you. You're the one that has it out for him, Jakob and I don't know why. Do you think he hasn't noticed? Envy might be insane, but he's definitely not stupid."

He rolled his eyes. "How touching. You even call him Envy when he's not around."

_...Shit._

She pursed her lips for a while before opening her mouth. "I've just gotten so used to calling him that, I guess I don't really see him as Maes anymore. He's been taking that name since he was a child."

"Wow, even as a kid? What a disgraceful mental case-"

"Stop talking about him like that." Lust stated venomously. "I will not allow it in my house!"

"You say it like it's _only _your house." He shot back angrily. "Technically, it IS my house. I'm the one who pays for it.I'm the breadwinner of his residence! You're just the retired police-officer-turned housewife." She replied arrogantly, her voice escalating with each word. He shook his head, not believing his ears.

"You always go for the low blows, don't you?" He hissed.

"Not as low as poking fun at my brother. But, I'll go even lower if you keep questioning my authority. Let's not have this argument again, Jakob. For your own good."

"I have authority in this house too! Even if YOU don't like it, sometimes it has to go _my way_-"

"_Sometimes _being the key word here. You know well who is the head of this household. If you're trying to kid yourself and pretend like you have no idea, I'll give you a hint. It's not you." Now, the onyx-haired man had deep hurt and a smoldering fury radiating in his blue orbs.

"Wow, so cruel. Evil, actually." Jakob spoke in a frighteningly-calm tone of voice. " Sometimes I think you don't even have a heart under that probably perfect rib-cage of yours." She invaded her personal space at this comment, face nearing his own, and her eyes flashing bright crimson. He knew she was pissed now, the red in her eyes only showed when she was furious. And at the moment, he didn't care, since his anger was double hers.

"You say at times you feel like I'm a stranger to your eyes."Lust chuckled. "Funny, I would think a better answer is 'a_ll the time'."_

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you know _nothing_ about me."

"I know you enough to see you're hiding something from me. And I intend to find out what, Solaris. Mark my words." Jakob finished his sentence with a aura of danger to it.

Blue eyes met crimson, and he tsked in annoyance as he walked away from the woman of the house, leaving her alone in the middle of their room.

.

* * *

_*Well, my girl's in the next room,  
sometime's I wish it was you. _

_I guess we never really moved on,*_

For those who might have been confused when Envy called him Roy, it's just saying how Envy sees the colonel in Jakob so much, he thought a good insult was to name him that.


	17. Common sense is hard to find nowadays

_*There is nothing you can do that I've already done to myself,_  
_ I ever wanted to dance with nobody but you!_

_and I won't take no for an answer you fucking bitch.*_

**-M** content-

* * *

.

"I am perfectly capable of doing it myself."

"I don't care."

"Why are you so _mean_ to me-"

"_Please_, shut up."

"I'll be quiet if you let me dress myself like a 'big' girl." She retorted sarcastically, baby blue eyes narrowing. "HA! And then what? I'll let go of your chains and you run like hell. You think I was born yesterday?" He picked up the piece of fabric again and looked at her expectantly. "Now, I won't say this again. Sit still and let me put on your damn shirt!"

"No!"She fumed, practically stomping her foot like an toddler throwing a temper tantrum. A vein throbbed in his forehead and he made a sound of frustration as he crumpled up the sheer shirt in his hands. In a second, the irritated expression on his face was replaced by a devious smirk. "Well then, I guess you prefer being naked then-"

"NO!" She screeched. "Then, STAY STILL!" Envy shouted tersely, patience shot. The blonde grumbled slightly, admitting defeat reluctantly as she let the sin dress her in a tissue-thin top she would only wear in the hottest days of summer, _alone_ in her room. Her line of sight went down to her abundant _visible _chest and she covered the practically exposed area with embarrassment, not even acknowledging the action useless since the sin already seen pretty much _all _of her body up close and personal. Still, the question remained in her mind. Why in the world does she even own such a see-through tank top?!

"Since you can't fathom on how to work the clasps of a bra," She gritted out after a while of uncomfortable silence. "Can you at LEAST get my underwear first? The breeze I am getting is very unpleasant." Envy gave an exasperated sigh, fed up with the female mechanic's constant writhing and complaining, and left his sitting spot on her bed to retrieve her god-for-saken panties.

"Open your legs."He stated boringly.

Winry gave him a chilling glare for saying something so disgustingly inappropriate, and flicked him on the forehead. As a response, he had the audacity to give her a cheeky grin. "Ouch?" Why couldn't he cut her a freaking break once in a damn while? She cursed under her breath as the half-homunculus slid the underwear up her legs. After an awkward fifteen minutes, Winry was dressed with the sheer top and ridiculously skimpy black shorts.

Though she wasn't very comfortable displaying her assets so shamelessly, she really didn't have a choice in the matter. The sin _was _the one who picked out her clothes after all. Then again, he picked the clothes from her OWN closet. _If I get out of this alive, I will make a point to burn everything that seems even remotely provocative. _Ugh. At least it was better than being naked. After Envy retrieved a blanket for the cold she kept on wailing about, the two left her room and went down the stairs, obviously heading back to the basement. She almost whined to him about not wanting to go back there, but stifled the urge to since...well, she WAS a hostage. It wasn't going to make a difference if she kicked and screamed. Hell, he'd enjoy that.

_How I hate that man...woman...creature._

The basement looked very inviting. It was completely dark, with only the bleak light the flickering light bulb gave off and there was also a strong stench of dampness in the air. She could already feel her throat close up in the small space.

After the half-homunculus used alchemy to seal her chains again to the cement, he sat on his chair with his fingers intertwined and a pensive look appeared on his face while staring at her like some kind of circus freak. Frankly unnerved, Winry decided to give him her stitched-up back and hope that he wasn't going to start with his insults and taunts. It seemed like an eternity of silence followed. Nothing to do but stare at the dumb gray wall, and feel Envy's penetrating gaze on her newly-cleaned back. After a while of not moving, she started to feel sleepy, and her eyelids felt heavy. Even though her captor was still observing her, she figured it wouldn't do any harm to take a little nap. After all, these past two weeks haven't been exactly exemplary for sleep and she really was exhausted. Winry laid down on the cold cement, and searched lazily for the dark blue blanket Envy had brought her. As soon as she felt the softness of her blanket, she immediately bundled herself in it like a cocoon.

As her lids slowly started to close, she sighed slightly in contentment as drowsiness filled her body, giving her a warm, fuzzy feeling. There was even an air of peace in the atmosphere, which was something unheard of for more than two weeks. Maybe this time, she'll be able to sleep uninterrupted and enjoy beautiful dreams with Edward-

"If you consider them siblings, I have six brothers and one sister. And a Father. No mother, though." Her blue eyes opened drowsily at his sudden statement and she sat up at a slow pace, turning to look at the half-homunculus quizzically. "Huh?"

"You asked me if I had a family, right?" He muttered indifferently, rolling his eyes like if she was an idiot. Winry remembered the moment, when she was trying to find out more about him. He had always denied answering any of her questions, so she'd just somewhat gave up on it. Now, he was answering her?

"Uh, yeah. Like a billion years ago-" Her eyebrow rose in confusion. "Do you want to play your stupid game or not?" Envy snarled at her. For the first time since she got captured, the girl's blue eyes lit up and she let out a happy squeal, sleepiness completely gone. So the mighty Envy finally gave in! She still might have a chance to find out something potentially important about him and plan her escape! "Okay!" Winry couldn't help but say excitedly, and then continued. "So who are your brothers and-"

"Ah-aah."He grinned, wagging a condescending finger at her. "I believe it is my turn to ask a question. Is it not?" She closed her mouth, gave a small sound of displeasure and gestured for him to go on. _I can't ask her right off the bat about the humunculi. Might be best to start with stupid bullshit questions to get her all embarrassed. Now, won't that be fun.._

"So, Miss. Rockbell," He drawled out. "Or should I say, soon-to-be Mrs. _Elric. _" He relished the pink starting to stain her cheeks, and stifled a snicker. "Have you and the pipsqueak already _consummated_ your relationship?" Winry gave a horrific gasp, loud enough for the nearest neighbor to hear, appalled he would even ask such a question. Her cheeks grew redder than tomatoes in less than half a second. Oh, this was just _too_ rich. In reality, he couldn't give a shit about knowing her personal affairs, but he absolutely adored seeing her writhe in embarrassment. In fact, now that he thought about, he probably discovered a new favorite past-time; embarrassing Winry Rockbell.

"YOU! How-how DARE you!" She screeched, pointing an enraged finger at the green-haired man. He merely shrugged like if he asked her favorite color. "I'm just curious." He gave her a teasing grin. "You did say you were going to answer honestly to all my questions, right?" Winry growled at him, her arms across her chest.

"Well I am NOT answering this question. It does not dignify a response!"

"So it's a no, huh? Poor girl."

"I didn't say that." She seethed at him. "But you know it's a no." He grinned at her confidently. "No." Winry shot back. "Ah, so it's a yes!"

"What? Wait, no!"

"So, no?"

"Yes. WAIT, NO!" The shrill cackle of Envy was grating on her ears."Just say it, you're still a virgin!" She clenched her fists in anger. "If I am or am not, what do you care?!" He just kept laughing at her flustered state, making her more irritated by the second. She knew he was doing this on purpose, he only wanted to make her squirm...the bastard.

"Well, what about you? Are you a virgin?" She asked, hoping to catch him off guard and make him blush.

His laughter immediately faded, and he rose his eyebrows inquisitively at her. Damn, no blush or any expression that said he was uncomfortable. "You didn't answer. Why should I?" He stated simply. "You answer and then I will." She shot back. He gave a wide grin. "I am a gentleman, Miss Rockbell. Ladies first." She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous statement. Whatever, it's not like he actually cares, right? "Okay...well..." She bit her lip, the blush creeping back into her cheeks. "I haven't really _done _anything with Edward."

"And?" She whipped her head at him again, glaring at him intensely. "It's ONE question per turn! So now, you answer mine!"

He scowled. "That's unfair. You know I meant for you to answer both-"

"Life is unfair." It was her turn to smirk down at him, delighting in his frustrated expression. "I'm waiting!" She sang annoyingly. The half-homunculus sighed, pondering his answer. It wasn't black and white for him like it was for anyone else. He finally decided on an adequate statement.

"Yes and no." A question mark appeared on Winry's blonde head. "Uh..."

"It's a long and complicated story." He stated simply, hoping she would leave the situation at that. After glancing at her once, it was clear she was still confused as hell and was waiting for him to continue. In reality, he really didn't need to explain the situation further, he had answered her question. But without even thinking, he sighed again at her puzzled expression and started to explain.

"You know what my gender is, right?" She bit her lip, a bit afraid to say the wrong one. What if he freaked out and tore out her stitches in his rage? Better not risk it and say the truth. "To be honest, I don't really know." Winry confessed sheepishly, waiting for him to blow a casket. Fortunately, he was pretty calm about it and continued on.

"Okay, see, here's the thing. I can be either male or female, or both at the same time if I feel like it. I'm a shape-shifter, I'm pretty sure you already knew that. This means I have no set gender, never had." If he told her he was once gender-less before and suddenly now he was by default a guy, she would deem it strange.

Winry nodded slowly. "Aha. Interesting. But what does this have to do with my question?"

He scoffed at her and gave her a mean glare. "Everything." She stayed quiet. "As a male, I am not a virgin. As a female, I am." He finished, scowling slightly. Her eyebrow rose. Well, this was just mighty strange. "I see." She managed to speak, not really understanding what this meant. Was he going to clarify?

"But it's NOT my fault." Envy felt the need to reiterate, obviously thinking she had comprehended the implied statement. "In her first 100 years, Lust was a fucking HORNY bitch, the slut wouldn't leave me alone!" He bristled like if Winry was accusing him of something. She widened her eyes in confusion and held up her hands in a yielding manner."Hey, hey I'm not judging you or anything-" The girl stated nervously but the shape-shifter continued.

"I mean, I didn't even know what she was making me do at that time, I was barely a few days old! How fucked up is that?! She could just gone for Greed like she did before I was created, but _noooooo,_Greed was now _'too boring'_ for her and she _'wanted someone new_'." He rambled on angrily, not even looking at Winry anymore.

"And it wasn't a one time thing, she kept pouncing on me for 75 FREAKING years. After scarring me for life, you'd think she would at least _apologize-_" Suddenly, his comment was cut short as he whipped his head to stare at his prisoner. He'd forgotten she was there, which pissed him off. What in the fuck compelled him to blabber on and on about this_ unpleasant _memory? What made him furious however, was her sympathetic expression.

"So, she raped you?" She spoke, her eyes understanding. He snarled at her question, rolling his eyes for the millionth time that same day. "No." He huffed, crossing his arms and uncrossing them. "Hey, girl can rape guys too, you know." Winry spoke soothingly, looking at Envy's fidgeting form. Clearly talking about this brought back many unpleasant emotions.

"I said she didn't." He muttered more to himself, and not very convincingly at that. "If you didn't give her consent-"

"Yeah okay, whatever. " He interrupted loudly, desperate to have this conversation end. "Anyway, I'm still a virgin in my female form, since I never could make a girl part actually work like it's supposed to. Every time I try, it ends up being defective. It's real hard to get the details right when all of your female junk is practically _inside_ you."

Winry blinked at him twice and sighed. It was clear he was done talking about his past. "Okay, well it's your-"

"WAIT! I have the perfect solution!" Envy suddenly shouted, like if he got the best idea ever. This obviously startled the girl, her eyes widening slightly in fear."I was always afraid of Lust slicing my hand off so I never tried it, but since I have _you..._" His lips curled into a sinister smile. Okay, suddenly she didn't like where this was going.

"You know, you can only get so much from anatomy textbooks, and the last time, I wasn't paying _too _much attention..." It seemed like with every word, his grin grew wider.

In an instant, she stiffened and her eyes grew as cold as stone.

"DON'T even** _think_ **about it." She hissed murderously. He only laughed at her response, and stood up from his chair, leisurely walking to her sitting form. Her glare multiplied to a heat of a thousand suns to his nearing presence. He gave a obnoxious whine. "Aw, Winry. Don't be such a prude. This will only be a learning experience! For a lengthy amount of time, I'll just look at your pus-"

"NO. A MILLION TIMES NO!" Winry screeched in anger.

"-I'll need a flashlight, maybe some gloves-" He continued on nonchalantly.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?"

"What? No gloves? Okay, then I'll just stick my finger in bare-"

"**ENVY!**" After her final enraged/mortified shriek, the half-homunculus doubled over in hysterical laughter. After she huffed and puffed in anger, the irritating man just kept laughing for quite a while. After a few minutes, his laughing fit ceased and he wiped his eyes. "Ah, God. I haven't laughed that hard since...since ever actually." He gave a small giggle- no seriously, _a giggle_, and looked at her with amusement clear in his orbs.

"You really think I want stick my hand into your nasty cunt?! You must be crazy-" He couldn't finish his thoughts as another round of loud chuckles vibrated in his muscular chest. The girl, although relieved he was only messing with her, still was quite angry at his constant insults and uttered her phrase with as much loathing as she could muster.

"I hate you."

"All of this flattery will get you nowhere, my grease monkey. If you want to get in my pants, all you have to do is ask!" Envy cooed in a honey tone, while she managed not to grit her teeth into the dust. "I would say fuck no, of course, since I _do _have standards, but you can ask nonetheless." The arrogant smirk never failed to fall from his face. She looked up to stare at him straight into the eyes and decided to ignore his insult (again). "Your turn."

"For what?'

"The question game." She muttered.

"Okay, I ask the question that you didn't answer before."

"Ugh, that again?" He looked at her with piercing dark orbs. "Yes. I am a virgin. Happy?" Winry muttered. He smirked. "Huh, really? And you never _rewarded_ your male clients for enduring the pain of automail?" His eyes flashed amusingly. "Ugh, no! What do you think I am?!"She shouted, disgusted. "Calm down, don't get your panties in a bunch, I just figured you'd be so loose, you could fit your wrench in there." He jeered at her.

"You're such a fucking dick, Envy."

"Why, thank you." He smirked at her, flattered. "So, what's your siblings' names?" She asked indifferently. The game was getting old but they really couldn't do anything else. Envy snickered. Oh, she was going to be so freaked out.

"Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, and Lust." It took her a couple of minutes to figure it out.

"...WHAT?!" Wait a minute... So all of the homunculi were siblings?! She didn't know THAT!

He looked at her innocently. "What's wrong?"

"You mean, your own _sister _RAPED you? Envy, that's sick!" He shrugged. "Now that...is disgusting. No wonder you're so fucked up! "

"Hey, I'm fucked up irregardless of what my dear ol' sister did to me, alright?" Envy stated in a warning tone. "I don't need your stupid pity."

"And where in the _world _was your Father when this happened?!" Winry couldn't help but keep her mouth shut, still aghast. He snorted. "Father? Oh, he wouldn't give a flying _shit _if the entire family suddenly decided to form an orgy. Actually for two years, he ordered me to fuck Lust's brains out (since we are after all, the most attractive of the bunch) in order to create homunculi offspring. After the seven-hundredth failed fertility session, he just kinda gave up on it though. " All while he was speaking, Winry was paralyzed in horror, increasing with each word that spewed out.

He caught her shocked face, and grinned at her . "You asked." She whipped her head to the wall, not wanting to even look in his direction. Not that it was his fault or anything, but still, the entire situation of it all was just not pleasant. "Oh, please Alphonse, hurry and come rescue me..." She whispered, cerulean eyes looking up as if the younger Elric boy would drop from the ceiling.

"Aw, poor baby!" His mocking gender-confused voice rammed in her eardrums unpleasantly. She whipped her heard to see him again, the appalled expression turning into an angry one. "You can't bear to hear how 'incest' seems to bode well with Father? At least you weren't a victim of it. Well now that you mention the sweet _Alphonse, _I've always wondered..." His grin grew wider with each word and Winry was almost certain he was about to ask her something explicit. "You never fooled around with the former tin-can when he got his body back? You know, a taste of the carnal pleasure he had been lacking since he was a little boy?" His sharp teeth gleamed in his face splitting grin as he made some very vulgar gestures with both his hands. She merely sucked her teeth in irritation.

"_No_. Of COURSE not! I've always seen Al like a little brother, I couldn't ever imagine-"

"-Fucking him?"

She smacked the palms of her hands to her ears, eye wide in horror. "YOU'RE SO CRUDE!" Again, the loud cackle of Envy manage to reach her, much to her chagrin, obviously pleased with her reaction. Why did everything coming out of his mouth have to be dirty or _perverse_? Oh yeah, that's right, from his brief explanation of his family, who couldn't expect it?!

"You really crack me up, sweetheart. Everything makes you blush." The green-haired half-homunculus teased. To her surprise, his grin didn't contain malice as it usually did. Now, it looked more playful than mean. Now that she was paying attention to him, she noticed he was close enough for her to actually touch his face. How did he manage to get in her personal space, and actually crouch down to her level without her even noticing?

Winry looked briefly around the room, her lips pursed in displeasure. Everything was too dark, the dim light was not enough for her. It was probably the reason why she couldn't detect movements as easily. Again, her eyes trained on her captor. His thin lips were still split into that psychotic grin he somehow manages to pull off with no problem, and dark locks of hair was hanging in front of his face.

She didn't know what compelled her to suddenly reach out and run her fingers gently through his forest-green hair, analyzing it with scrutiny. Immediately, the envious sin stiffened at her touch in shock...or maybe disgust. Who knew.

Silk. No, softer than that. It was astounding to her how feathery and just perfect his hair felt to her worn-down hands. Winry then noticed how his lips flattened to a rigid line.

"What do you think you are doing, worm?" He finally spoke in a harsh tone. She would have expected he would have teared her hand away from his head and go put as much space between them as possible. Strangely enough, he stayed right in the same place, cemented in the same position. The girl's line of sight elevated to rest on his narrowed eyes, his irises too dark to make out in the bleak atmosphere.

Then, without warning, the only light bulb in the room decided to flash blindingly bright for a second before dimming down to its normal dingy beam of light.

It was in that exact second where she noticed Envy's eyes for the first time.

She'd seen his eye color before a thousand of times, but she'd never really actually _noticed _it before like she did right at this moment. She never knew his eyes were such a gorgeous brilliant violet. She never knew how deeply captivating and _mesmerizing_ they were. The irises seemed more like a precisely-cut amethyst jewel that glowed with such a splendor, it literally took her breath away. It was at that same moment where she fell in love with them.

The sin cleared his throat, clearly irritated. "I am waiting for your answer, wench." He threatened again, not liking her gawking. She was looking right into his pupils, like if she was trying to burn a hole right through his corneas. He had never felt such an intense stare, or least never felt one that didn't contain rage or blood-thirst, like the rest of them normally did.

"Has anyone ever told you how stunningly beautiful your eyes are?"

Now _that_, he certainly wasn't expecting. Her words echoed in his ears and through out like the rest of the room. Immediately, he stood up abruptly and took a couple of steps back from her sitting form. Envy had an unreadable expression on his face, one she couldn't decipher to even be positive or negative. She now felt deeply embarrassed in his scrutinizing glare. Her mouth had expressed her thoughts without even contacting her brain, and now she was stuck in this mortifying situation. The silence was unbearable. Winry wanted to take it back, say that it was a moment of temporary craziness-even if it was a lie as she did believe to have witnessed the most _magnificent_ pair of eyes in this planet- but somehow, now that her mind and mouth were communicating, her lips sealed shut.

_Ugh, say something! ANYTHING!_

Her mouth was opening again, and she felt secretly elated. She was going to win back her dignity. Yes she was.

"I've never seen such pretty eyes before." Winry felt like slapping herself. Repeatedly. She actually saw Envy's mouth dropping open a bit. A deafening silence covered the two, and the girl could only bear the burning sensation pass from her cheeks to all over her face. Well, now she couldn't trust her mouth to keep her from ridiculing herself.

As he looked over to where Envy was a second ago, she felt her heart drop to her lower stomach. He wasn't there anymore. The door of the basement closed with a click, letting her know he had left while she was mentally beating herself up. She didn't know if she should have been anguished or relieved of his sudden departure. She gave a heavy sigh, and laid down on the floor, covering herself with her blanket in order to sleep. Or in order to forget this entire ordeal. Whichever one was faster.

Meanwhile, a green-haired man was currently in the living room.

Envy sat on the Rockbell's camel-colored couch, his leg propped comfortable on top of his thigh and his back sinking comfortably in the cushiony leather. His arms stretched out on the the edge of the couch, obviously enjoying the extra space. His head was leaning back until hitting the same edge, vision directly aimed at the ceiling. His face was like stone, not one emotion passing through his lips, or eyes. Anyone who saw him would have guessed he fell asleep with his eyes open. This was not the case however.

_.  
_

_No... No one has ever told me that, worm. Only you._

_._

* * *

I understand it seems like ch. 17 has a different tone than the rest of the chapters, but I didn't mean to, I swear!

_*Ella y yo, dos locos viviendo una aventura castigada por Dios.  
__Un labirinto sin salida, donde el miedo se convierte en el amor.*_


End file.
